Final Fantasy VII: Full Circle ::rough script::
by lentils on lent
Summary: To more directly contest Advent Children, FC was originally written as a film script/screenplay. Though not as well-written as its novel counterpart, it has the advantage of being finished... if you want to know how it all ends, this is where to look.
1. Legal Notice and Author's Statement

Final Fantasy VII: Full Circle

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**Legal notice and acknowledgments: **All characters, locations, plot devices, themes, ideas, concepts, motifs, and emotional reactions to them belong to the corporate auteurs of Squaresoft, Enix, Square-Enix, and Enix-soft – all of which shall bid the smiting by their valiant lawyers of the round table of anyone who disagrees with this policy, which I certainly do not. The fanfic (internet slang for plagiarism) that I have written is a purely farcical divertissement of no ambition or artistic value whatsoever, and is to be ridiculed and ignored. Not only am I a plagiarist, but also the plagiarist of a plagiarist, as I have shown the unmitigated audacity to go so far as to adapt a scene from a certain doujinshi (Japanese for plagiarism) into this work (the website of the aforementioned plagartist responsible for this scene can be found here: _http://www.ne.jp/asahi/junk/g/ff/ _). Thank you or reading this. 

**Author's Statement:**

French New Wave filmmakers such as Godard and Truffaut believed that the best way to respond to a film is to make another film. As a Final Fantasy VII fan insulted by the sub-mediocre film-sequel that is _Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children_, I was compelled to take this route. Although a humble fan like myself lacks the resources necessary to make a film, I can certainly write my own screenplay, which, coincidentally, is Advent Children's weakest point (although I find the film to be lacking obviously in all areas to some extent, especially in the music department).

And so I bring you _Final Fantasy VII: Full Circle_, the film I feel that Advent Children should have been but never was. This story functions like an "alternate universe" version of Advent Children, borrowing elements from the film and inviting comparisons, but never acknowledging Advent Children as part of the Final Fantasy VII timeline. The only canon I adhere to is that of the game itself.

So take heart, my fellow disillusioned fans; by using the power of your imagination to flesh out the non-existent film I've delineated in these pages, you will experience but one example of the viable alternative that exists in respect to Advent Children and mass-produced culture in general. This is an alternative that transcends economic, legal, and authorial restrictions on creativity, allowing it to exist as it truly is, governed only by the limits of the imagination. For what is Advent Children's story but another fanfic with a copyright attached to it? As long as we all have imaginations, we all have control over imaginary worlds. No single individual, not even the author, can rise above this egalitarian model, unless, of course, he can trick others into believing that his word is superior and somehow truer. There is, in fact, no objective truth in an imaginary world, which is why it is imaginary and not reality in the first place. Secondly, because the pleasure of an aesthetic experience comes from within, one's personal interpretation and memories of that experience will always trump authorial intention in the heart of the individual. I don't understand why so many people think authorial intention is important to Final Fantasy VII when it's not even an auteur work in the first place. Anyway, on that note, I leave you with the following quote:

"_Audiences may resist the dominant meanings and messages, create their own readings and appropriations of mass-produced culture, and use their culture as resources to empower themselves and to invent their own meanings, identities and forms of life. Moreover, media culture itself provides resources which individuals can appropriate, or reject, in forming their own identities against dominant models." _

-- Douglas Kellner, Media Culture, 1995


	2. Act I

Final Fanasy VII: Full Circle

Act I**  
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**  
(The film opens similar to the end of the game, with Red XIII ascending a cliff overlooking Midgar. How**e**ver, this scene takes place only two years after the game (rather than 500). The camera zooms on Red, who shifts his attention from Midgar to the ground. He begins to narrate in a voiceover.)**

RED XIII: Lifestream… the energy of the Planet, the source of our being.

**(The camera sinks below the ground to reveal veins of green running through it. The camera follows these veins and emerges from the ground to reveal a forest.)**

RED XIII: It moves freely between life and death, coming and going from one entity to another. The cycle continues for eons, until one day, the Planet itself must follow its course in an even greater cycle.

**(Using time-lapse photographic effects or something like it, we see the forest reach winter, at which point the camera follows the roots of a tree back into the ground. From there it follows a strand of the Lifestream until it emerges on the other half of the Planet in the form of a blooming flower, also aided by time-lapse. When Red mentions the "greater cycle" the camera zooms out into the infinite depths of space. The stars fade into green Lifestream bubbles, which are then sucked through up a giant pipe.)**

RED XIII: But for some, this cycle moves too slow…

**(The camera flows through the pipe, emerges, and then zooms out to up reveal Midgar two years ago, blasting smoke into the black sky above it.)**

RED XIII: They can't see themselves as part of something too large to observe in a single lifetime, so they built machines to speed things up. What the Planet would normally disperse over hundreds of years came to be enjoyed by only one generation of humanity. And even with such unnatural wealth, only a fraction of men in one corner of the world reaped the benefits – The Shinra Corporation, the greatest testament to human greed ever formed.

**(The camera rises above Midgar in an overhead shot before zooming back out into space.)**

RED XIII: This is the way things were…before the day of Judgment of came.

**(The camera remains in space. Meteor descends into the shot.)**

RED XIII: Summoned by a madman determined to have his consciousness appropriate the Lifestream in its entirety, Meteor was to be the chief instrument in the transfusion, wounding the Planet so deeply that he could tap it to its core.

**(With "madman" we cut to Sephiroth in the flames at Nibelheim. Then, with "Meteor" the scene returns to Meteor, beginning its thrashing of Midgar.)**

RED XIII: But the Planet tapped into itself first.

**(Cut to the Lifestream emerging from the Planet and attacking Meteor.)**

RED XIII: It was the first time anyone saw it move by its own will. And for most, it was the first time they truly understood that the Shinra were burning away something that not only lived, but constituted life itself. The stories of the ancients, truths long since forgotten in the shadow of greed, had finally resurfaced, literally, as the Lifestream erupted from the ground.

**(Midgar fades to its current state.)**

RED XIII: However, just as they fail to consider what impact their actions will have on the future, those like the Shinra continue to neglect the mistakes of the past. The history of men, it seems, is doomed to repeat itself.

**(The camera moves away from Midgar until oilrigs come into view. Cut to a close-up of the operation. We see the name "Ibsen" emblazoned on the machinery.)**

RED XIII: Two years ago, I fought alongside a group of humans to save this Planet…

**(We see brief flashbacks of the various heroes.)**

RED XIII: Perhaps it is time that we repeat ourselves as well…

* * *

**(Inside The Seven****th**** Heaven, a diner/bar in Midgar, obviously set up in a different location than the original.)**

CLOUD: How many times do I have to repeat myself? Listen, Reeve, I'm not interested!

REEVE: Please Cloud! When I called you the other day, you promised me that you'd…

TIFA: **(chuckles)** that one never works on him!

CLOUD: Tifa, do you mind?

TIFA: Sorry...

**(A brief silence passes. Reeve is a bit taken back by Cloud's shortness with Tifa.)**

REEVE: Look, even if you don't believe any of what's been discovered about fossil fuels, I don't understand how you can just sit here and shrug it off while Shinra is rebuilding itself and the city council is reconsidering the use of mako energy!

CLOUD: Reconsidering? Maybe. But seriously reconsidering? Hm… they'll stick with the oil industry, you can count on that. They're not about to overturn the environmental regulations any time soon…

REEVE: Then I take it you don't keep up on current events? It just so happens that Shinra recently unveiled a new form of mako technology in compliance with the city's current regulations…

CLOUD: Whatever. They'll just end up being bought out by Ibsen or some other oil company. The name is all that's left of Shinra anyway…

REEVE: Yes…from the outside, the old electric company hardly seems a threat these days… especially if you're willing to buy into the whole "President Palmer" thing. **(He scoffs)** Please Cloud, don't tell me you actually believe that oaf is running the show…

CLOUD: Who else would? **(mockingly)** Some dark shadowy figure pulling all the strings?

REEVE: Don't be so quick to laugh **(lowering his voice)** there has been a great deal of whispering from some very reputable sources about Shinra controlling every branch of this supposedly democratic government of ours**. (Resuming his normal tone)** then again, I don't suppose it really matters whether it's them or Ibsen that ends up ruling this city, because really, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the same thing for them: profit. Like you said, Shinra is just a name.

CLOUD: So what do you want me to do about it? Aren't you trying to avoid associating with us "former-terrorists"? You know, trying to keep your image clean?

REEVE: **(sighing)** Yes, I am sorry about that, but you must understand that as long as I am head of the World Restoration Organization, I have no choice but to keep my distance from you and the rest of AVALANCHE if WRO is to have some chance of surviving in this political climate.

CLOUD: **(slightly bitter)** Don't worry, this conversation never took place.

REEVE: **(awkwardly forces a laugh)** Aha, but you see, I need your help because a "former-terrorist," as you put it, is the exactly the type of character suited for conducting any activity that could undermine our credibility at WRO if were to attempt it for ourselves.

CLOUD: And what kind of activity is that?

REEVE: A little espionage -- just enough to expose some of these corrupt politicians so they can be held accountable. No one would get hurt, I assure you.

CLOUD: You got the wrong guy. I'm just a bike messenger. **(he points to a BMX sitting out front)**

**(Reeve is slightly amused, as if in on the joke thrown at the audience. Or perhaps he's smiling because he's happy that Cloud is doing something environmentally conscious. Anyhow…)**

REEVE: **(clearing his throat and resuming seriousness)** Well, yes…a bike messenger who has infiltrated several maximum-security Shinra facilities!

CLOUD: Yeah? Barret's done the same thing, why don't you ask him?

REEVE: **(biting his lip) **Mr. Wallace and I…have our differences.

CLOUD: Like you taking Marlene hostage and him not wanting you to?

REEVE: …

TIFA: **(exasperated)** None of that matters anymore, ok?! **(To Reeve)** Look, Reeve, Barret would love to help out -- I know it. It's just that he's working with the construction company full time now, and --

REEVE: Mm…I understand. **(To Cloud)** So…you're not going to help us then?

CLOUD: Sorry Reeve. If you want to find a spy you should try looking in the mirror.

TIFA: Cloud!

REEVE: No Tifa, it's perfectly fine. I…I think I'd better leave. (**Taking his things and walking out the door)** thank you for your time, Cloud. I hope you reconsider what you think is best for the Planet. If you change your mind, WRO is holding a rally at 6:00 tomorrow evening in Sector 8 Square. Oh, and Tifa, don't forget to watch Channel 4 at 8:30 tonight!

TIFA: What? Why?

REEVE: You'll see!

**(Reeve exits The Seven****th**** Heaven.)**

TIFA: Channel 4? I wonder what he's talking about…

CLOUD: **(gruff)** You invited him here, didn't you?

TIFA: **(After a pause, startled by Cloud's suddenness)** Of course I did!

CLOUD: **(grumbling)** what for?

TIFA: I don't know, I just thought you might find something meaningful to do! While you're off working your minimum wage job and wallowing in existential dread, there are worthy causes you could be fighting for…real, living people who need your help!

CLOUD: **(gritting his teeth**) I can't help anyone.

TIFA: And why's that?

CLOUD: Because…because I just can't, okay? If you're so bent on making a difference and all that, why don't you join WRO? I'm sure you'd do a much better job as Reeve's newest remote controlled toy.

TIFA: Fair enough. I guess you'll have to be the one looking after Marlene while Barret's out then. Why not? We all know how great you are with kids…

**(Cloud's expression softens; a look of guilt overcomes him.)**

CLOUD: Marlene…I wish I could do better for her…

TIFA: I know…I know you think that you can't do any good here. I just thought that you might be able to do something for someone out there…

**(Cloud closes his eyes. We hear his thoughts. Two instances of a plinking sound. On the third plink, we see a flash of the white materia bouncing off the stone floor**.)

CLOUD: I told you: I can't help anyone**. (He stands up**) Goodnight Tifa, thanks for dinner.

TIFA: **(sighing) **So it's back to the fortress of solitude then? I don't suppose you plan on telling where it is you're always running off to one of these days?

CLOUD: **(Pausing, his expression full of pain and guilt.) **Goodnight Tifa.

**(He exits. Tifa wearily locks up and goes upstairs. Marlene eagerly greets her.)**

TIFA: **(Smiling)** Hey you…why aren't you in bed yet?

MARLENE: **(looking up, hopeful)** Is Cloud still here?

**(Tifa shakes her head sadly.)**

MARLENE: **(lowering her eyes)** Oh…okay. Goodnight Tifa.

TIFA: Goodnight Marlene. Sweet dreams…

**(Marlene goes into her room. Tifa, rubs her forehead to relieve the stress and sighs.  
**

**

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**

**Note: opening credits are spliced into the following sequence**

**(Cut to Red XIII, making his way through the streets of Midgar. Cut to Cloud, who is doing the same, his head hanging low. Cloud comes to an alley** **in Sector 8, the same one we see Aerris in at the behginning of the game. the place where he first met Aeris. Suddenly, the camera mimics the opening of the game, zooming out to reveal all of Midgar. The title appears with fanfare before the camera zooms back in to reveal a train screeching to a halt as it pulls up to an oil refinery. Three mercenaries wearing ski masks pop out from the train. One of them is a fairly large man; another is wielding an electro-magnetic rod. They proceed to knock out the guards. The sequence that follows resembles an abbreviated version of the first reactor bombing at the beginning of the game, with lots of quick jump cuts and close-ups of valves being opened, bombs being set, etc.) **

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**(Back in Sector 8, Cloud continues moping about. He notices a woman in a pink dress standing on the curb, standing with her back facing towards him. His eyes widen and his mouth hangs open as he reaches out for her pathetically. Suddenly, she turns around.)**

WOMAN: One night, ten gil.

CLOUD: What?

WOMAN: Listen pal, do you want to do this or not?

CLOUD: I -- No!

WOMAN: Asshole! **(She walks off in a huff)**

**(Cloud sighs and sits beneath an old, weathered "Loveless" sign. Suddenly, he starts up at the sound of a huge explosion in the distance. The night sky lights up with a flash. The nearby oil refinery is ablaze. Cut to Red XIII somewhere not too far away, also startled.)  
**

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**(Back in 7****th**** Heaven, Tifa hears a brief rumbling and feels the room shake ever so slightly. Once this has passed, she looks around suspiciously for a moment before resuming her activities: she is sitting by herself at the bar, watching TV like Reeve asked her to.)**

TALK SHOW HOST: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another installment of Limit Break, the debate program that knows no bounds. I am your host, Bob Walker.

Tonight on the show: The energy debate: will it ever end? Joining us live here in Midgar this evening to hopefully answer this question is an unlikely guest panel with an even more unlikely history: first, former head of Shinra's urban development program, now currently leading the World Restoration Organization, Mr. Reeve Tuetsi…

**(Tifa smiles at the familiar faces on the screen.)**

REEVE: Hi.

HOST: Also here with us is former Shinra pilot currently oil investor, Cid Highwind, joining via satellite from Rocket Town…

CID: Howdy.

REEVE: Wait second, **(looking at Cid)** oil investor?!

HOST: And, having recently completed a long and painful recovery from a tragic trucking accident two years ago, he's the former head of Shinra's space program who has now risen to president of the company as it oversees development of the new ecologically sustainable mako technology, "Mako 2" -- please give a warm welcome to Mr. Arnold Palmer!

PALMER: Hey-hey!

HOST: Here you have it, ladies and gentlemen, this is what great television is all about: three different men, three different views on the most important issue of our time, and yet they all stem from a common past. **(To Cid, Palmer, and Reeve)** Gentlemen, I understand you three go way back…

CID: That's correct Bob.

HOST: Now, I'm familiar with your history together, but could the three of you please explain it for the viewers? Mr. Tuesti, perhaps you would care to begin?

REEVE: Certainly **(He clears his throat)** Well, I used to work with Palmer on an almost daily basis when we were both department heads at Shinra… and I met Cid when I was traveling with AVALANCHE - and by that I don't mean the terrorist group, but the former-terrorist group…

HOST: Ho, ho, of course. People often forget the difference. Perhaps they should have considered changing their name after they stopped being terrorists?

**(Cut to Tifa, still watching.)**

TIFA: He's got a point.

CID: Actually, Reeve himself wasn't traveling with AVALANCHE. He was communicating with us though a robot cat sitting on top of a robot moogle that the cat controlled with a megaphone, which Reeve controlled on his computer.

REEVE: And an additional control device implanted in my brain, if need be…

HOST: Right.

CID: He called himself…I mean, it, Cat Sith.

REEVE: It's _Cait_ Sith; there's an "I" in there. And Cait Sith wasn't technically a real member of AVALANCHE, since I was using the Toyasaurus--

HOST: Toyasaurus?

REEVE: Yeah, you know -- a big mechanical stuffed animal that tells fortunes…

HOST: Oh, one of those…

REEVE: Yes. Anyway, like I was saying, I… er, I mean, Cait Sith wasn't a real member of AVALANCHE when I met Cid, because I was using the _Toyasaurus_ to spy on them for Shinra Inc…

CID: But eventually he sided with us...

REEVE: Yes, I sided with you in order to provide Shinra with the information necessary for tracking down Sephiroth...that's what I said...

CID: Okay, but I'm talking about when you...

REEVE: So yeah, that's the story behind Cid and me.

**(Cid looks at Reeve with an annoyed expression.)**

HOST: Fascinating! And as if all these coincidences weren't enough, you, Mr. Highwind, met with Mr. Palmer on several occasions to discuss Shinra's space program, isn't that right?

CID: That's correct Bob. In fact, fat man Palmer here came over to my place for tea the day I met Cait Sith…which is when he got smashed by that truck.

PALMER: **(he winces) **Maybe we should get on with the debate?

HOST: Right. Thank you, gentlemen; I'm sure you cleared up a lot of questions for the viewers. **(He clasps his hands)** Now, the debate – Mr. Highwind, would you care to start things off by sharing your thoughts on this issue?

CID: **(He clears his throat loudly, coughing up a bit of smoker's phlegm)** Well uh, I think oil's the future, see, because back in the day, when I was flying around for Shinra and all that, well, we used gasoline, and that worked out just fine if you ask me.

HOST: Powerful words from a powerful man.

CID: Thank you.

REEVE: Hang on a minute! **(To Cid)** You smoke a pack of cigarettes every day and you think you know what's best for the health of the Planet?

CID: Whoa there, little fella!

REEVE: "Little fella?"

CID: Uh sorry…it's just the cat thing…force of habit.

REEVE: Never mind…just tell me, have you read _any_ of the pamphlets I've been sending you?

CID: Well, uh, Shera always gets the mail over here, you see, and…

REEVE: If you read any of them, you'd know that the combustion of fossil fuels releases heat-trappping gasses into the atmosphere, resulting in a worldwide increase in temperature that could prove fatal to the delicate balance of life on this Planet! In fact, scholars from Cosmo Canyon have proven beyond a doubt that for the first time in history, The Great Glacier on the northern continent has begun to melt!

PALMER: I concur. Mako energy is a far superior choice, especially in light of Shinra's latest breakthrough, Mako 2…

REEVE: You can't concur with me! I disagree with everything you stand for!

PALMER: Just because you don't concur with me doesn't mean I can't concur with you!

CID: I believe he's got you there.

PALMER: **(smirking at Reeve)** Anyway, to getting back to _my_ point: Our team of expert scientists at Shinra have developed Mako 2 -- an extremely innovative re-envisioning of our original Mako formula that burns 95 more efficiently, ranking higher on environmental standard tests than anything produced by Ibsen oil, which, ironically, lobbied the government to create those very standards so they could suppress the competition posed by my company…

HOST: Ah, but that's the nature of the game, isn't it?

PALMER: That it is, Bob.

REEVE: **(shaking his head)** this is absurd. Just to let everyone know, Mr. Palmer here supports taking the stuff that made us alive here today and burning it for fuel!

PALMER: Hold on a minute! There is absolutely no evidence suggesting…

REEVE: No evidence? What about the Lifestream coming out of the ground to…

PALMER: Hm! I knew you'd drop the "L" word. Why don't you go back to Cosmo Canyon with the rest of your tree-hugger friends…

HOST: **(laughing nervously) **Gentlemen, now of course this program is all about pushing limits, but try to refrain from…

CID: Good luck trying to get Plamer to shut his fat mouth...

PALMER: Don't say fat!

HOST: GENTLEMEN!!!!!

VOICEOVER: We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news report!

**(An image of the flaming oil refinery appears on screen.)**

REPORTER: You're looking at live footage of the Ibsen oil refinery in Sector 1 of Midgar, where some kind of explosion has taken place just a few minutes ago…**(pausing) **One moment please…

**(Cut to Tifa, watching in horror. The reporter resumes.)**

REPORTER: We have just received unconfirmed reports that the explosion was caused by a group of terrorists, possibly related to the group responsible for the attack on Ibsen's oil reserves in Bone village earlier this year.

TIFA: Oh my god…

* * *

**(Inside the Sector 5 church. Cloud walks through the front door. He's caught by surprise as he notices an unexpected visitor.)**

RED XIII: I had a feeling you'd be here…

CLOUD: Red!

RED XIII: Interesting place you've got here…

**(Cut to an overhead view of Red looking up through the hole in the roof.)**

RED XIII: I don't suppose you've tried falling a few thousand feet through the roof yet…

CLOUD: **(lowering his voice in shame)** Well, that part of upper-plate is gone now…

RED XIII: **(groaning)** Don't tell me you've become so delusional that you think you can somehow magically meet her again by reenacting the circumstances of your first encounter…

CLOUD: It would work if hit the ground hard enough…

RED XIII: **(taking a deep breath)** I see you haven't made any progress since we last spoke…how long has it been now? A year, at the very least…

**(Slowly zoom in on Cloud as he stares off, reminiscing. We see a quick flash of him in Cosmo Canyon shouting at Red and walking away.)**

CLOUD:Yeah…it's been a while.

RED XIII: **(he sniffs the flowerbed and sighs)** And here you are, no different from then, still clinging in vain to that which has long since passed.

CLOUD: It feels like it's been longer than two years…much longer…

RED XIII: **(He nods)** It was a grand adventure though, wasn't it?

**(Cloud sees another flash of the white materia bouncing, and a pink ribbon falling, almost too quick to notice.)**

CLOUD: Up to a point.

RED XIII: You wish you could live in those moments forever, don't you?

CLOUD:…

RED XIII: It's nothing to be ashamed of. There are times when I yearn for those moments as well.

CLOUD **(grumbling)**

RED XIII: It's true! I learned a lot back then. (**He pauses)** You know Cloud, Even though I tried to be your teacher for a while, I never told you that you've been a teacher to me first.

CLOUD: What?

RED XIII: On our journey, two years ago. I had planned to stay at the canyon with Grandfather, until he told me to go with you.

CLOUD: He's the one that changed your mind, huh?

RED XIII: Yes: he told me that no matter what happens, we must try -- that even if the Planet can't be saved, we must continue to fight for it. **(He pauses)** Grandfather thought that you and the others would demonstrate this point to me best.

CLOUD: …

RED XIII: Cloud, I've been thinking more and more about Grandfather's words that day. I've noticed that the Planet's cries are starting to get louder again…

CLOUD: **(shaking his head) **There's nothing I can do about it.

RED XIII: But Bugenhagen believed in you…are you going to betray the faith he carried with him to his deathbed? **(sighing)** It pains me to have to remind you of the lesson _you taught me_.

CLOUD: I'm sorry…I just can't do it anymore. It's too much…too much for a world without any joy left in it…

RED XIII: **(sighing) **So, you are still blind…

CLOUD: I'm sorry…

**(A pause.)**

RED XIII: Do you recall much about Vincent Valentine?

CLOUD: The best I can for someone who never spoke much…

RED XIII: Then tell me this: what was left for him in this world? What happiness did he possess that was worth defending?

CLOUD: **(thinking about it for a moment)**… I don't know…

RED XIII: That's because all you ever think about anymore is your own gratification! Vincent fought for something greater than what any one man can possess… I suggest you ask him about it sometime…

CLOUD: Well if you think he's such a saint, why didn't you ask him to join you before you came to bother me?

VINCENT: He did.

**(Vincent drops from the rafters, landing face to face with Cloud.)**

CLOUD: Vincent! If I'd known you were here…

VINCENT: Don't worry about it.

CLOUD: Why didn't you say something?

VINCENT: Hmmm…I guess it's just my style. Sorry.

CLOUD: Uh… don't worry about it

RED XIII: **(interrupting)** Um, Cloud… Barret and Tifa are still here in Midgar, rihgt?

CLOUD: Yeah, at the 7th Heaven … good luck getting them to join you though; they're busy with their own things…

RED XIII: It won't hurt if I try, now will it?

**(As Cloud ponders these words, Red tosses him a bead necklace. Hanging from the band is something that resembles a tiny dream catcher, woven into a pattern of circles within circles. Cloud seems to be greatly affected by this object.) **

RED XIII: Think it over. We'll be staying at 7th heaven if you need us. You said there was a pinball machine we can sleep under, right?

CLOUD: That was the old 7th heaven.

RED XIII: Oh…well hopefully we can find some kind of lodging there. **(Assuming a solemn tone**) Take care, old friend.

CLOUD: You too.

**(Vincent and Red XIII exit. Cloud sits in the flowerbed broods, staring at the amulet on the floor. The camera cuts between Cloud's face and the necklace, zooming in slowly on both**. **This slow, hypnotic shot fades to a** **flashback to Cosmo Canyon, one year ago. We see Cloud, weary with travel as he arrives. Cut to the Red XIII in the observatory, reading a book as an Easter Egg, the author is James Lovelock. Cloud enters.)**

CLOUD: Red…

RED XIII: **(he looks up from his reading)** Cloud? Well, this is certainly an unexpected visit!

CLOUD: I would have called, but…

REDXIII: **(he nods)** No phones.

**(The camera briefly shifts its focus to the window behind Red XIII, through which we see a few of Cosmo Canyon's many windmills. The shot then focuses back on Red XIII.) **

RED XIII: Tell me friend, why have you come here?

CLOUD: I'm searching…

RED XIII: Oh? For what?

CLOUD: I…**(he pauses) **Well, the point is, I need to understand the Planet better.

RED XIII: Well, you've certainly come to the right place. However, make no mistake -- it's not going to be easy.

CLOUD: I'm prepared to do whatever it takes.

RED XIII: Very well then, Cloud Strife. I, Nanaki, elder of Cosmo Canyon and guardian of the Valley of the Fallen Star, welcome you to our tribe as my apprentice.

**(As Red says this, the scene cuts to a ceremony being held in which Cloud is inducted into the tribe. The elders surround him as he is adorned with the necklace seen in the church. Thus begins a training montage of Cloud studying under Red XIII. We see shots of Cloud reading, Red leading him through meditation exercises, etc. The montage stops on Red XIII lecturing Cloud in Bugenhagen's planetarium.)**

RED XIII: Two years ago, Grandfather told you about the cycle of life observed in our Planet, but what he didn't tell you is that this cycle is in fact present in _all_ things. Take ourselves for example: just as the Planet provides a home for us, so do we host an endless number of organisms living inside our bodies. Inside of us there is something like the Lifestream, healing our pains and fighting sickness. Thus the cycle of Planet life is matched by a cycle inside of us, and within this cycle there is another, and another…forever.

**(The montage resumes with more shots of Cloud's training. Cut back to the planetarium.) **

RED XII: If we turn our attentions outward, we see that the Planet, like ourselves, is also part of a greater cycle. Just as we have a soul, so does the Planet. And like us it too will die one day, at which point it will return to the Universe. The Planet is not immortal: it can be wounded, contract diseases from other celestial bodies --

CLOUD: You mean…Jenova?

REDXIII: Yes.

**(A few more seconds of training montage go by before settling back on CLoud and Red in the planetarium.)**

CLOUD: But then…do our bodies take after the Planet, or does the Planet take after our bodies?

REDXIII: No cycle is mimicking the other: they all share the same nature because they are all one.

CLOUD: But the Planet, the Universe, our bodies…they're all on a different scale! They can't be equals!

RED XIII: Think about it: Inside of us are cycles within in cycles -- a pattern that goes on infinitely. And infinity includes everything, even this Planet. So the entire universe, you see, resides at the center our being, and so do we reside at its center.

**(As he says this, the camera focuses on Cloud's amulet, the spiral-shaped dreamcatcher-like object resting at the center of his chest. Cloud looks down and fumbles with it contemplatively.)**

RED XIII: So you see, everything is ultimately reciprocal.

CLOUD: I don't believe it…

RED XIII: If you let your mind be at peace, you will be able to undo opposition, reconcile the most impossible seeming ideas …

CLOUD: Let my mind be at peace? What you're really saying is that I should just stop thinking, so I don't realize how ridiculous this all is!

RED XIII: Is critical thinking the only way of thinking that you know?

**(Cloud doesn't answer.)**

**(The montage returns to more shots of Cloud training/studying. Cloud is visibly becoming less and less enthusiastic, shaking his head skeptically, slamming a book shut, etc. The montage ends as the scene cuts to Red XIII guiding Cloud through meditation in a deserted area of the canyon.)**

RED XIII: Today we're going to do something a little different. It occurred to me the other day that you might have an easier time learning here if we first work on developing listening skills…

**(Cloud's face expresses skepticism.)**

RED XIII: Trust me, listening to the Planet is the best way of understanding it…

CLOUD: Listening to the Planet…like Aeris used to?

RED XIII: That's right.

CLOUD: Let's start right now!

RED XIII: Patience, my friend, patience. If you wish to hear the voice of the Planet you must first learn to quiet your thoughts. Tell me, what is it that you desire most?

CLOUD:…

RED XIII: Well?

CLOUD: To meet someone…

RED XIII: Ermm… perhaps you should be looking into a dating service then?

CLOUD: No, what I meant was, I think I can meet… ah, forget it…

RED XIII: Well whatever it is, you must learn to let go of it. To listen the Planet, you must surrender any attachments that you have in connection with your own life, or else you will never be able to sense anything beyond yourself.

CLOUD: But I don't think I can let go of some things... ever.

RED XIII: You can do it! I know you can!

CLOUD: No. Never.

**(Red shakes his head in disappointment.)**

**(Fade back to the present, sector 5 church. Cloud turns his attention away from the amulet in his hand and gazes up the stars through the hole in the roof.)**

CLOUD: **(whispering)** never…

* * *

**(Cut to a darkened office. Palmer is conversing with someone via videophone. The person on the other end of the line is a mysterious man in a wheelchair, draped in white linen. The mystery man is sitting at a desk in the study in the basement of the Shinra mansion. They both have televisions playing behind them, tuned to the same program, which is showing clips of Palmer's recent talk show appearance.)**

MYSTERIOUS MAN: **(sarcastic)** Wonderful performance tonight, President Palmer! Bravo! Encore!

PALMER: You liked it?

MYSTERIOUS MAN: What's there not to like? After all, nothing earns the people's respect like a fat, vulgar, sophomoric buffoon!

PALMER: Don't say "fat"!

MYSTERIOUS MAN: **(sighing)** I could call you names all night and it wouldn't amount to a fraction of the insult you've dealt me with this disgusting behavior of yours!

**(Palmer glances nervously at the TV behind him, currently displaying footage of him performing his trademark taunt during the debate, patting his ass at Reeve, Cid, and the TV show host.)**

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Is this what you thought I was requesting when I said the Mako industry needed a new image?!

PALMER: They had it coming!

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you in respect to…oh, I don't know, another "tragic trucking accident" perhaps?

PALMER: No! Please sir, anything but that! **(sobbing)** Please…

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Just think of it as something to keep in mind the next time you feel the urge to make an ass out of yourself

PALMER: Y,yes sir.

**(News of the oil refinery bombing replaces the debate footage on TV.)**

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Ah, now you see that? There's an example to follow…it's a shame I can't use my bombers for public representation; unlike you, they know something about professional discipline!

PALMER: Yessir, more discipline sir, sure thing sir, be like the bombers…

MYSTERIOUS MAN: I hope for your sake that the stir they caused tonight will draw enough attention away from your idiocy to keep the company from becoming a total laughing stock…now, go on and get out of my sight, you disgusting, brown-nosing pig!

PALMER: Yessir, less brown-nosing, whatever you say…

MYSTERIOUS MAN: **(hanging up on Palmer)** Ugh...

**(A knock at the door sounds.)**

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Yes?

RUDE: Someone here to see you, sir...

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Let them in ...

**(A shaky, nervous man enters.)**

WESLEY: H, hello sir…I'm here for the veteran services program…

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Ah yes. Have a seat.

WESLEY: Some important looking people back in Midgar, they said you could help me…

MYSTERIOUS MAN: Yes, yes. Tell me, Mr.…

WESLEY: Robinson…Wesley Robinson...

MM: I see. Tell me, Mr. Robinson, you were once enlisted in the Shinra-owned military forces known as SOLDIER, correct?

WESLEY: Th, that's right...

MM: Mmm...and these times haven't been kind to you and your fellow veterans, have they, Mr. Robinson?

WESLEY: Oh, you have no idea...ever since Shinra lost its military branch, I haven't been able to hold down a job and my wife took the kids and left me and…

MM: Yes, yes...and those ghastly modifications made to your body-chemistry, surely they have brought you pain as well?

WESLEY: Oh, it's awful! I can't sleep, I get these nightmares, the mako in my eyes is always burning...

MM: You're right Mr. Robinson, that truly is awful! **(sighing)** I am terribly sorry for all of this… which is why I've invited you're here...

WESLEY: What do you mean?

MM: What if I told you that the Shinra company was able to offer you compensation for your troubles?

WESLEY: But that's...

MM: **(lifting his hood to reveal his face to Wesley but not the audience) **Impossible?

WESLEY: **(shocked)** Oh my! Mr., I mean, sir...please, I need this opportunity so bad you don't even know...

MM: Please relax, Mr. Robinson, you'll get what's coming to you soon enough... now if you'll just step inside the capsule behind you, we can begin the physical examination as soon as the doctor arrives.

WESLEY: **(stepping into the pod) **Oh thank you! Thank you! You're a kind man! They said all those bad things, but I knew they were wrong about you all along...

MM: **(laughing**) You're right: I'm not as bad they say... I'm worse!

**(The pod slams shut. Wesley screams horribly. A tank fills up with blood, which is filtered through a tube Leading to a small bag. The bag of fills up with green juice, at which point Rude detaches it and connects it up to an IV running into the Mystery Man's arm. The injection seems to be relieving the Mystery Man of some great pain. He looks down at his hand, which is in a state of decay. The hand slowly begins to heal, but then quickly reverts. He clenches his deformed fist in frustration.)**

RUDE: Would you care for another candidate today, sir?

MM: No. Tell the company that the only SOLDIERs I want from them are those that will be serving in my army!

RUDE: But… your condition…

MM: SOLDIERs are no longer effective... I need someone stronger...

RUDE: ...

MM: Don't worry my friend, I still have plenty of use for you... besides, the one I'm looking for is far richer in the cells than you will ever be.

RUDE: **(he nods)** how shall we obtain this person?

MM: Hmmm. He's too strong to be taken in by force… **(He suddenly breaks into a plot-hatching grin) **Ah butperhaps we can arrange for him to come to us…

* * *

TIFA: 6:00, tomorrow night? ...Which intersection did you say? That's in Sector 8, right? …No, it's not a problem at all; we get these kinds of requests all the time… 

**(Barret walks through the door, wearing a hardhat and carrying a lunchbox. He sets both of them down on a table.)**

BARRET: **(jokingly)** Honey, I'm home!

**(She shushes him with her finger. He sits down and patiently waits for her to finish taking the call.) **

TIFA: **(continuing her conversation)** Will you be needing anything else then? Alright…thank you very much…goodbye…

TIFA: **(hanging up the phone) **That's the same time and place as the Reeve's rally…

BARRET: What's this about?

TIFA: Oh nothing, just another order for Cloud…

BARRET: He was just over here right? What's old spike-head like these days?

TIFA: Oh you know… what was it that you used to say? "A cold man!"

BARRET: Yeah I thought so. **(Looking upstairs)** But hey, he stills pays rent…

**(He sits down at the bar in exhaustion.)**

TIFA: Where were you tonight?

BARRET: Oh, I had to work late…

TIFA: You smell like smoke.

BARRET: Yeah, well there was this explosion at the oil refinery near the site…

TIFA: I know…

BARRET: What's wrong? You weren't worried about me were you?

TIFA: …

BARRET: I'm sorry.

TIFA: …

BARRET: I'm really sorry!

TIFA: You'll have to do better than that…

BARRET: Okay, I'm taking the entire day off tomorrow and spending it with Marlene! How do you like that?

**(Tifa smiles at him approvingly. Suddenly, Red XIII and Vincent enter.)**

BARRET: **(jumping to his feet)** Who's that!

TIFA: Red?

RED XIII: **(embarrassed) **Sorry we didn't knock… I would if I had hands …

BARRET: What about him?

VINCENT: … not my style.

**(Tifa goes to get two chairs, then corrects herself and only brings out one. Vincent, however, prefers to stand.)**

TIFA: So, what brings you two here?

RED XIII: We were just passing though and we thought we'd come and visit…

BARRET: Hell of a way to visit…

TIFA: I was more interested in what brings you here to the city.

RED XIII: Well, to be frank, we're concerned with current events in Midgar...

TIFA: **(taking a deep breath) **I know things have been difficult for us here, but this city is steadily getting back to its old self...

RED XIII: That's what we're afraid of.

BARRET: Look, just what are you guys hoping to get outta this visit?

VINCENT: We were hoping for AVALANCHE to reassemble.

BARRET: If that explosion earlier tonight means anything, I'd say it already has…

RED XIII: **(smiling nervously)** That's not what we meant. We were thinking of something a bit more peaceful…

BARRET: A peaceful avalanche? Never heard of such a thing. The Planet doesn't care where you've built your house: the rocks got to give way where they do, when they do!

TIFA: **(to Barret)** Don't start that now…**(to Red and Vincent) **As you can see, you've brought up _a sensitive subject for us_.

VINCENT: Hm. Sorry…

TIFA: **(pleading)** Come on you guys, we have to put AVALANCHE behind us, don't we? I know saving the world is a tough act to follow, but we have to accept some things as they are and get on with our lives already!

RED XIII: I have plenty of life left to spare...

VINCENT: And I've none left to lose...

TIFA: **(responding to Vincent)** Well if that's one of the qualifications, you two should have petitioned Cloud...

RED XIII: Yes, well… Cloud is… er, perhaps it's best we didn't talk about it….

TIFA: Oh, so you were able to find him…

**(She turns away from Red and the others, taking up a seat up at the bar by herself, slumped over by. Red approaches her hesitantly.)**

RED XIII: So, I take it that you won't be helping us?

TIFA: …

RED XIII: Very well. Just remember: your life will end in a matter of years, but this Planet could go eons before its time if we don't act.

TIFA: **(Slamming her fists on the bar) **I'm sick of this! How many sacrifices does the Planet need from the same people? Isn't it time someone else did their share?

**(A beat. Vincent comes forward.)**

VINCENT: It's not easy being a hero, is it? Everybody always looking to you for hope… Why come back to Midgar, the most devastated place in the world? Why not retire to Costa del Sol, go to some place where the sun always shines?

TIFA: Because…

RED XIII: Because there you have no idea if the sun will come up the next day. Here is where the future is going to be decided. Here is where we need to be, to show the people how to create a sustainable way of life.

BARRET: Why don't you try going out there and lecturing them on sustainability while they're wondering how they're gonna to feed themselves? The only people that _might_ listen to us are on the ones struggling just to get by. You think a perfect democracy pops up overnight when a tyrant like Shinra is removed _somewhat_ from power? The upper-plate might be gone, but this city is still the same moldy pizza it always was, ruled by the same upper-crust cigar-chompin' scumbags, and when they think of AVALANCHE, they think of only one thing -- terrorism! You think we're considered heroes around here? You should listen to what the goddamn propaganda-spewing media says around here: they say that the Shinra their Sister Ray were the ones who defeated Sephiroth with; they say that there is no such thing as a Lifestream, they say...

TIFA: Barret! Try to calm down a little...

RED XIII: And you say that you only have yourselves to worry about? It sounds like AVALANCHE is needed as much as ever.

BARRET: AVALANCHE useless! We might have been able to take down a maniac like Sephiroth, but only a maniac like him could take down the Shinra...

RED XIII: Inaction or evil -- are those the only choices you see?

BARRET: You reach out to a soldier offering peace and he shoots you in the face. People sacrifice their lives only to be forgotten. We save the Planet and they resume its destruction as soon as they possibly can. The only things in this world that are good themselves don't do any good! You get my drift?

VINCENT: So you've chosen to do nothing -- I guess that makes you a real philanthropist, by your own philosophy.

BARRET: …

TIFA: Now then, are you two finished demonstrating the outstanding charm that you plan on winning the people over with?

(**RED XIII begins to open his mouth to respond but can't think of anything to say.)**

TIFA: But then I guess you're just so enlightened that you've risen above all our quaint little notions of humility and sympathy, right?

**(A silence passes.)**

RED XIII: I'm sorry...we realize that just by being here in the city all this time you've done more than either of us.

TIFA: **(sighing)** Listen, tomorrow night Reeve is holding a rally for WRO. If you approach him in private, I'm sure you three can work something out. He's the active one…

VINCENT: Thank you, we'll do that.

REDXIII: Oh, and Tifa…

TIFA: Hm?

RED XIII: **(sheepish)** You wouldn't happen to have a place here where we could sleep, would you?

BARRET: **(grumbling)**

RED XIII: **(shrinking away from Barret)** I can always sleep outside.

VINCENT: A closet is good enough for me…

TIFA: **(laughing)** you guys are too much. You can take Cloud's room. It's not like he ever uses it…

RED XIII: **(looking slightly uncomfortable)** Yeah, about that… the place he's staying at now…

TIFA: You don't have to tell me. **(sighing)** I already know…

* * *

**(Cut to someone talking with the mystery man in his ofrfice over video phone.)**

KARL BRENNT: This is ridiculous! Outrageous!

MYSTERIOUS MAN: **(nonchalant) **Something the matter, Mr. Brennt?

KARL: This is the second time one of our sites has been bombed in the last five months!

MM: Mmm, yes…must've been those terrorists from Bone Village you and your company are always talking about…you know, the ones whose homeland you invaded for those precious fossil fuels you love so much?

KARL: Don't play games with me!

MM: Fine then, you want the truth? Not much you can do with that: you can't fix a leak with the truth, can't cure pinkeye… oh, and you certainlycan't use it get public support for occupying neutral territory -- heavens no! You want my advice? Stick with the Bone Village thing. Foreigners blowing things up? The public gulps it down and asks for seconds!

**(Karl grimaces.)**

MM: Well, if you'd rather tell another story this time around… perhaps WRO had something to do with the bombings? They never did get along with your company…

KARL: Listen to me! People are going to get suspicious if we don't slow down!

MM: Here's a tip for you beginners in politics: People don't get suspicious; they're too busy thinking about themselves…

KARL: But… these weren't the terms we agreed upon!

MM: What difference does it make to you? You'll still get your chair on the board, you don't have to worry about that.

KARL: Just tell me one thing: how the hell am I supposed to coordinate all of this when we aren't even on the same goddamn schedule?

MM: Frankly, I could have just as easily bombed your little refineries without your being around to "coordinate" it. Remember, I'm the mastermind here…

KARL: Don't you get cocky with me, we gotta stick by the plan, damn it!

MM: **(smiling)** Come on, I don't get a little wiggle room?

KARL: You take out half of the refineries in a few months when we agreed to do it over the course of three years… and you call that "wiggle room?"

MM: **(suddenly becoming enraged)** I don't have years!

**(The MM pulls back his sleeve to reveal a decaying arm.)**

KARL: What the…

**(The MM calmly gestures with his hand toward Karl. Suddenly, Karl is seized by extreme pain. He clutches his chest.)**

MM: I don't know why I bother… it's so much easier doing it this way…

KARL: **(still in pain, breathing heavy and trembling) **What… how… Ungh!

**(Karl is overcome by another jolt of pain.)**

MM: The cells of Jenova: odorless, tasteless… completely undetectable to the senses when applied in trace amounts… until it's too late, that is. These happen to be a very rare and unique breed… you should feel honored.

KARL: You bastard!

**(The MM silences him with more pain.)**

MM: It's actually against their interests to kill the host, but, just like the rest of you lower life forms, I can easily manipulate them to do my bidding.

**(Karl remains silent, breathing heavy and still recovering from the last attack.)**

MM: For the next 48 hours or so, I will be able to direct your thoughts, actions, speech, and bodily functions toward whatever ends I see fit. Resist my will and you'll die, understand?

**(Karl nods in horror.)**

MM: **(smiling) **Good. Tomorrow night at eight o'clock I want you to run a little errand for me downtown … think you can handle that?

* * *

**(Everything is black. Only two voices can be heard. The musical score quotes the theme from the track "Who Are You" from the FF7 OST.)**

-- Cloud... isn't time you stopped spending so many days alone?

-- Who are you?

-- Why don't you come home?

-- Home?

-- Nibelheim.

-- Nibelheim… why there?

-- Your family is here waiting for you...

-- The only family I ever had was my mother...

-- Exactly...

-- But... she died...

-- Your mother cannot die...

-- What?

-- Come home, Cloud. Every family must have a reunion every now and then...

**(Cloud suddenly wakes up in his cot at the church. He appears to be quite unnerved from the dream.)**

* * *

**Fade to daytime, still inside the Sector 5 Church. Tifa enters.**

CLOUD: Tifa?

TIFA: **(sheepish) **Surprise… **(She puts a heavy bag on the floor)** I got some packages for you to deliver. One of them is for the WRO rally tonight, so I guess you're coming whether you like it or not. **(Smiling, a bit nervous)** Red and Vincent are going to be there too. Did you know that they're visiting here for a while? They stayed over with us last night. Isn't that nice?

CLOUD: **(somewhat cold)** How did you find me here?

TIFA: Come on Cloud, I'm no fool…

CLOUD: It's just… well you never came before…

TIFA: **(sighing)** And I don't know why I'm here now…

CLOUD: **(mumbling)** … to drop off those packages.

TIFA: **(she looks around the church) **Some spot you've picked out. **(sighing)** so this is how you really live…

CLOUD: Surprise…

TIFA: You can't do this to yourself Cloud! It's not fair!

CLOUD: I like it just fine.

TIFA: Please don't do this! If you keep dwelling on old memories like this you'll end up destroying yourself!

CLOUD: Old memories? No. Things as they are now – that's old. This city and its problems, you and your lectures -- I've heard it all before…

TIFA: Well here's something you haven't heard before: I'm sick of caring about you! What's the point? All you do is hurt the people who to get close to you!

CLOUD: **(muttering)** Maybe that's why I stay away…

**A silence passes.**

TIFA: Do you really think this is what she would have wanted?

CLOUD: No… she would have rather lived…

**(Tifa looks as if she wants to say something, but begins to choke up. Cloud looks on with a dead expression as walks away without a word, utterly dejected. Cloud picks up the bag of packages and looks at it disinterestedly.  
**

* * *

**(Jump ahead to that evening, Sector 8. the WRO rally has begun. Red, Vincent, and Tifa who is still looking a little depressed from her encounter with Cloud earlier are present. Barret is presumably home with Marlene. A member of WRO is speaking at the podium.)  
**

WRO MEMBER: … so those of you who are interested in making donations, please speak with me or Garret – Garret, where are you?

**(A man in the crowd raises his hand and waves.)**

WRO MEMBER: **(pointing to Garret)** right then, speak with me or Garret afterwards. There will also be time at that point for questions and comments… all right… oh, and we also have some literature available on the tables up front… umm…

**(Another WRO member politely ushers his peer aside.)**

WRO MEMBER #2: … Well then, I think we can begin now… ladies and gentlemen, please welcome none other than our founder and leader, a bold thinker and a truly great man… Mr. Reeve Tuesti!

**(Applause)**

REEVE: Thank you. **(He pauses)** thank you all for coming out here tonight. I appreciate everyone being here, especially in light of last night's bombing in Sector 1. I think we're all still shaken up by it… fortunately, nobody was killed. Nonetheless, I offer my sincerest condolences to the injured workers and their families who have suffered from this crime.

**(He pauses for a moment before resuming again.)**

The issue I wish to address tonight, however, goes beyond any single incident. Instead, I wish to speak of the root of all such incidents: the energy crisis, a situation that is becoming more and more critical each day. With the once dominant Ibsen now mired in violence and Shinra attempting a comeback with the creation of a new form of mako energy that passes environmental regulations, the future energy source of Midgar is once more up in the air, leaving us in the midst of a decision that could very well determine the fate of this Planet. And yet, this decision has been left in the hands of a few men who limit the interests they represent to one of two feuding energy companies. Between these two corporate giants, Shinra and Ibsen, we have yet to see a solution being proposed that isn't inherently flawed…

**(Reeve voice suddenly muffled in the distance as we cut to a rooftop overlooking the rally. A shadowy figure darts by. Cut back to Reeve as he continues his speech.)**

REEVE: … Midgar's experiment with fossil fuels over the past two years has been kinder to the environment than the city's previous affair with mako, but it is by no means harmless -- scientists in Cosmo Canyon have proven this beyond the shadow of a doubt…

**(Cut to Cloud arriving at the pickup point on his bike. Pulling out the package, he looks around for its recipient. No one is there. He contents himself with waiting.)**

REEVE: … furthermore, the dependence on foreign lands for oil extraction has compelled the Ibsen corporation to conduct illegal military action across the globe, namely in the Bone Village area, antagonizing its people and provoking terrorist attacks on Midgar like the one we saw just last night!

**(Cut to Cloud casually glancing at the package in his hand. Something catches his eye: the return address is that of the Shinra Mansion. Cloud experiences a flash of some strange sensation.)**

REEVE: … and to all this, the only voice of opposition in your government is coming from Shinra's puppets on the council, whose only complaint with such conduct is the fact that it's increasing someone else's profits rather than their own, save for the money Shinra made by selling Ibsen the military resources needed to conduct such an illegal war in the first place…

**(Cut to someone opening a case and beginning to assemble a sniper-rifle.)**

REEVE: … and while Shinra prides itself on "Mako 2"and its compliance with Midgar's environmental regulations, one only has to remember that these regulations are based only on pollution of the external environment and other superficial problems, while any unseen damage to the life-force of our Planet goes on unchecked…

**(Cut to a pair of shaky crosshairs trying to fix themselves on Reeve's head.)**

REEVE: …Your government would have you believe that democracy ends with the ability to choose one corporate autocracy over another! Well, to that I can only say one thing…

**(Cut to Cloud as he continues to stare at the mysterious package. Another flash of the strange sensation repeats. Unable to resist, he tears open the package. Inside is the photograph of Zack, Tifa and Sephiroth, accompanied by a small note, which reads, "look up." Filled with dread, Cloud looks up and sees a man on the roof of the building across from him wearing a ski mask and aiming a rifle at Reeve. Seized by urgency, Cloud runs toward the building.) **

REEVE: And while we're on the subject of empowering the people, I'd like to remind everybody that solar and wind power are labor-based ventures, whereas Mako and oil are capital-based ventures…

**(Cut to Cloud as he ascends the building on a fire escape ladder.)**

REEVE: … but to Shinra's credit, I am told that their new building does in fact include recycling bins in the conference rooms…"

**(The audience laughs.)**

**(The gunman fixes his aim on Reeve's head.)**

CLOUD: No!

**(He tackles the gunman. A shot goes off. Reeve is hit above the left breast. The crowd scatters and panics. Cloud wrestles with the gunman, who doesn't put up much of a fight. Cloud easily snatches the rifle and tosses it aside.)**

CLOUD: **(Holding up the photograph)** Where did you get this! Who are you?! **(He unmasks the gunman)**

KARL: He'll kill me! He'll kill us all!

CLOUD: Who?

**(He opens his mouth to speak, but suddenly he loses his voice. Only agonized groans come out.)**

CLOUD: Tell me!

KARL: R…r…rfff…

CLOUD: Reeve? You're doing this because you're afraid of him?!

**(Before he can answer, Karl spontaneously combusts, his torso bursting into flames. As Cloud takes cover, we see a close-up of the infamous photograph bubbling and melting away, having caught fire in the process. Tifa and Vincent appear, followed by Red and the WRO member who introduced Reeve.)**

TIFA: Cloud!

CLOUD: I couldn't stop him. He just… started burning… What about Reeve?

TIFA: I don't know…

WRO-MEMBER: **(looking at the gunman's body)** Holy crap! That's Karl Brennt!

RED XIII: Who?

WRO-MEMBER: He's a… I mean he _was_ a corporate executive from Ibsen…

CLOUD: Ibsen…

**(A group of men in uniform similar looking to SOLDIER surround the scene.)**

OFFICER: This is Public Safety Services placing all of you under arrest! Come along quietly and there won't be any trouble, do I make myself clear?

**(Vincent gives an irritated grunt.)**


	3. Act II

Final Fantasy VII: Full Circle

Act II

* * *

**(On a beach in Costa del Sol. Palmer is there, filming a commercial.)**

PALMER: Hi, I'm Arnold Palmer, president of Shinra Utilities. I'm here today on the beautiful shores of Costa Del Sol to talk about something that effects every one of us: the environment. We at Shinra understand how important it is to exercise responsible stewardship over this Planet, which is why we're asking you to support us in the effort to bring mako energy back to the world, starting with the city of Midgar. Our new and improved method of extraction makes it clean and safe for not only you and your family, but for all of the Planet's creatures… just ask my friend here, who's gotten a real lousy deal from a recent oil spill…

**(Someone off camera hands him a baby sea turtle.)**

PALMER: Don't worry little fella, **(he turns it over looking for oily spots)** we'll have you cleaned up right away **(still unable to find anything wrong with it)**… just hang in there… uhh…

DIRECTOR: Cut! Cut! Why the hell is that turtle still clean?

CREWMEMBER # 1: I'm sorry Chris, it just looked so cute and…

DIRECTOR: You're fired! **(Pointing to another crew worker)** Jimmy, oil up the damn turtle!

** ("Jimmy" dumps a gallon of crude oil over the turtle.)**

DIRECTOR: All right, let's try that again… action!

PALMER: **(getting up less than half of the oil)** There you go… erm, good as new… **(He gives the turtle a shake) **um… **(Giving it another shake)** Hey, uh, I think it's dead…

DIRECTOR: Cut! We'll take care of it in post!

PALMER: **(grumbling as he tosses the turtle aside)** Someone get me some tea!

**(One of the crewmembers hands him a glass of something cold. Palmer snatches it greedily and examines it.)**

PALMER: What the hell is this?

CREWMEMBER # 2: Iced tea... welcome to the tropics, dude.

**(Palmer grumbles and starts drinking it with a sour expression. He spits it out immediately.)**

PALMER: Damn it! You expect me to drink this plain? Where's the sugar?

CREWMEMBER # 2: Don't have any.

PALMER: Cream?

CREWMEMBER # 2: Nope.

PALMER: **(trembling)** … lard?

CREWMEMBER #2: …

PALMER: AGHGH!!!

CREWMEMBER # 2: We could put… lemonade in it? **(wincing)**… maybe?

PALMER: Hey, that's a great idea…

CREWMEMBER # 2: … really?

PALMER: **(Throwing the tea in the crewmember's face)** No you moron, I was being sarcastic! **(Shouting to no one in particular)** Are we done here? I'm done! If you need me I'll be at the ice cream parlor! **(He walks off the set angrily, followed by his bodyguards)**

_**Note: For those who don't get the joke, see a TV screen, we see the end of the finished commercial playing**_

* * *

PALMER: Don't worry little fella, we'll have this up in a jiffy. 

**(The commercial cuts to Palmer holding a clean and clearly different turtle using a radial wipe to indicate time lapse (like a cheesy dishwasher advertisement going from the shot of the dirty dishes to the shot of the clean dishes).**

PALMER: There! Good as new!

**(Cut to Reeve watching the whole thing on the TV in his hospital room.)**

REEVE: You've got to be kidding me…

SLOGAN/JINGLE VOICEOVER: Shinra Utilities: "we care".

**(He flips the channel to a cable news debate program.)**

TALKING HEAD #1: This scandal is going to be the final nail in the coffin for the oil lobby… I mean, the whole thing is just plain horrifying, and to think that this man represented what we all thought would become Midgar's answer to the energy crisis…

TALKING HEAD #2: Come on Hal, all you're doing is appealing to the knee-jerk reaction! The reality of the situation is that we don't have all the facts, and until then, we shouldn't be making such broad, sweeping judgments! Do we even know why Mr. Brennt spontaneously combusted or how he obtained the deadly assault weapon? Sure, it looks bad, but --

**(Reeve changes the channel again, bringing up footage of a statement being made by the President of Ibsen.)**

PRES IBSEN: Our family here at the company has seen so many tragedies in little more than 24 hours, it's absolutely overwhelming: first we had yet another bombing of one of our industrial facilties, and now this has been followed by the bizarre and tragic death of one of our former executives and a close friend of mine, Mr. Karl Brennt. In these times I can only do two things: first, I offer my condolences to Mr. Brennt's family and the families of the many injured in the recent refinery bombing; secondly, I wish to remind everybody that all of this illustrates more than ever the need for maintaining peace in the Bone Village area of the northern Continent. Though the industry of Ibsen oil and its support from the people of Midgar, we will bring peace and stability to the region and secure a sustainable energy source for future generations around the world! Thank you, and may our great city continue to be blessed with good fortune.

**(Applause)**

**(Reeve flips the channel again. This time he sees front of the hospital he's staying in.)**

REPORTER: We're outside of the Sector 3 Charity Hospital where WRO leader Reeve Tuesti is being treated for injuries received from the attempt on his life last night by Ibsen executive Karl Brennt…

REEVE: What the…**(he sticks his head out the window)**

CROWDMEMBER: There he is!

REPORTER: Mr. Tuesti! Would you care to comment on…

REEVE: Ugh…**(he retreats back inside)**

**(A nurse enters.)**

NURSE: Mr. Tuesti, some people are here to see you…

REEVE: Tell them to suck an egg!

**(Tifa and Cloud enter.)**

TIFA: Well, it sounds like you're feeling better…

REEVE: Eh, sorry guys… I didn't think the PSS would be letting you go any time soon…

TIFA: The chief gave us the benefit of the doubt…

**(Cut to a quick, silent flashback of Reno sitting at a desk while Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, and Red are leaving the PSS station.)**

REEVE: **(slightly amused)** Hm. Yeah, that seems like something he'd do…

CLOUD: They seemed pretty eager to dismiss all the strange details surrounding the incident and just chalk it up to Brennt being insane…

REEVE: Well, the story as it stands is certainly useful enough to Reno's former employer **(he says "former" skeptically.)** But tell me more about these "strange details" you mentioned…

CLOUD: **(taking a deep breath)** Listen, Reeve, I… I think all this has to do with me…

REEVE: What?

CLOUD: Someone commissioned me to deliver a package last night, right in front of the building where the gunman was… and inside the package… well, there's no doubt that they wanted my attention.

REEVE: … and I suppose the PSS dismissed all this information as well?

**Cloud nods.**

REEVE: Unbelievable…

CLOUD: There's more: the package… it was labeled from the Shinra Mansion.

TIFA: Let's not jump to conclusions! It could have come from anywhere...

CLOUD: Tifa… it had the picture in it…

**(She is deeply disturbed by this point.)**

REEVE: Shinra… it has to be them! But why? Why would they give themselves away so easily?

TIFA: Cloud, listen, someone's trying to lure you into a trap… you can't give into it!

CLOUD: I don't know… it's not as simple as that. This is going to sound crazy, but… I've been having these dreams lately.

REEVE: What?

CLOUD: In them there's this voice telling me to Nibelheim…

TIFA: Cloud…

CLOUD: I have to go. If I don't, they'll try to hurt Reeve again, or you, or someone else...

TIFA: But…

CLOUD: I have to do this… **(jokingly)** Besides, I thought you were through caring about me…

TIFA: **(lowering her eyes)** So I guess you've already made up your mind about this…

**(Cloud nods.)**

REEVE: Then it's decided. I'm going with you.

CLOUD: What? But you can't!

REEVE: At this point I am absolutely convinced that this attempt on my life is but a single piece of the puzzle in understanding the conspiracy and corruption that has swept over Midgar. We'll have to do a little espionage to expose those responsible… and you'll need an experienced spy like myself to make sure the job gets done right!

**(Cloud smiles at Reeve's humor.)**

CLOUD: **(resuming seriousness**) But… your health…

REEVE: **(smirks)** Who said I'd be using my body?

**Reeve places a finger on one of his temples. Suddenly, Cait Sith bounds out of the closet…**

CLOUD: Woah!

TIFA: Really, do you take this thing everywhere you go?

REEVE: It's a habit I've formed since last night. Can't get enough protection these days…

**(The moogle cuts the air with a few punches.)**

CLOUD: **(smirking the ridiculous sight of his new partner**) All right.

**(Red and Vincent enter.)**

RED XIII: We're going too.

**(Everyone looks to them with surprise.)**

RED XIII: **(to Reeve) **Vincent and I came here looking for some way to help the Planet, you see, and last night Tifa told us that you'd know the best way to go about it

VINCENT: Yes, and this task in particular suits our abilities rather well.

REEVE: **(smiling)** All right then, welcome aboard gentlemen, your services are always appreciated.

TIFA: **(aside to Cloud) **Are you sure about this?

CLOUD: I'll be fine. We can handle whatever they've got over there…

TIFA: Just be careful… I have a bad feeling about this.

CLOUD: **(lowering his voice)** yeah, me too.

REEVE: Then it's settled. I'll talk to Cid and arrange to have us flown out to Nibelheim ASAP!

* * *

**(Sometime later, still in the hospital. Tifa has left. Red XIII and Reeve are talking about something amongst themselves. Cloud steps out for some fresh air on the balcony connecting to Reeve's room. Vincent is standing out there by himself.)**

CLOUD: Vincent…

VINCENT: Hm?

CLOUD: Thanks for tagging along.

VINCENT: It's what I do.

CLOUD: **(amused) **Hm. Yeah…

**(A brief silence passes.)**

CLOUD: Say Vincent, do you… um…

VINCENT: Hm?

CLOUD: I was just wondering – ah, nevermind.

VINCENT: Okay.

**(An awkward silence goes by before Cloud resumes.)**

CLOUD: Do you remember the last night before our final battle, two years ago?

VINCENT: Yes.

CLOUD: Yeah, I didn't want anyone coming along without something special to fight for.

VINCENT: I remember.

CLOUD: Well, it's just that you never said what it was -- your reason for fighting, I mean.

VINCENT: Thinking about what Red said, huh?

CLOUD: I mean, why do you do it? No offense, but do you actually have anything left on this planet worth saving?

VINCENT: To be honest, I'm not sure myself. I never was.

CLOUD: But… I told all of you not to come with me until you'd found your own reasons for going! Saving the world isn't enough: there has to be a personal stake in it too, doesn't there?

VINCENT: **(shrugging)** That didn't stop me…

CLOUD: …

VINCENT: Your reason was interesting, though.

CLOUD: A memory… a very personal one.

VINCENT: Seems like cheating to me. It's not like you can save the past from destruction… that is, unless you share it **(he looks at Cloud inquisitively).**

CLOUD: Sorry. Like I said, it's personal.

VINCENT: **(smirking)** Hm. Cheater.

CLOUD: Look who's talking…

**(Cloud walks back inside.)**

* * *

**(Cut tot he basement of the Nobelheim mansion.) **

MYSTERIOUS MAN: **(gloating over a newspaper)** Wonderful, wonderful! Everything is going according to plan!

RUDE: I am glad.

MM: Now then, our guest of honor should arrive in a matter of days, and we still have to acquire certain provisions for the homecoming, do we not?

RUDE: The SOLDIERs will be arriving tomorrow, just as requested, sir.

MM: Good… and your sister? Has she returned from Bone Village yet?

RUDE: She's here now. Do you wish to see her?

MM: By all means! I have a new assignment for her…

* * *

**(Cut to the next day. It's late in the afternoon. Cloud, Red XIII, Vincent, and Cait Sith board the Highwind. Flash back to the hospital room earlier that day. Reeve is there, speaking to Cloud. We observe that he has set up a computer station next to his bed for controlling Cait Sith.)**

REEVE: I've arranged our flight out to Nibelheim…

CLOUD: So you talked to Cid?

REEVE: **(shaking his head)** No, I spoke with his crew. No one's been able to get a hold of him. They say he went out alone in the Tiny Bronco some time two days ago, refusing to answer to anyone until he gets back.

CLOUD: What? Why?

REEVE: I guess he wants to get away for a while. "Personal matters" – that's all they'll tell me.

CLOUD: Hm.

**(Cut to back to the present. We see a brief shot of the Highwind, making it's way toward Nibelheim. Back to the Hospital.) **

REEVE: Although the enemy is probably expecting us already, I don't want to announce our arrival. We'll land behind Mt. Nibel and make our way to town on foot.

CLOUD: All right…Vincent and I know the area well enough.

**(Cut to another brief shot of the Highwind. Cloud and the rest can be seen on board. Back to the hospital.)**

REEVE: We should arrive shortly before nightfall. Now then, any questions?

CLOUD: Just one.

REEVE: Hm?

CLOUD: What do when we reach Nibelheim?

REEVE: I… I have no idea.

CLOUD: Hmm… good to know.

**(Cut to an establishing shot of the Highwind flying past Kalm. Cut to the deck of the Highwind. Cloud is alone, watching the scenery roll by. Something catches his attention in a meadow below. Cut to a ground view, focusing on one tree in particular. Cut back to Cloud as he lapses into a flashback.)**

**_Note: The following scene is adapted from the doujinshi, "Mother". See the legal notice on the first page for details._**

Kalm Inn. Barret, Red, and Tifa are sitting in their room

CLOUD: (looking out the window) Looks like it'll rain tonight…

BARRET: She's been gone a while now…

CLOUD: Hmm. I'll see what I can do.

Cut to a field outside. Aeris is standing out there alone, near the same tree that triggered this flashback

CLOUD: Hey…

She turns around and smiles.

CLOUD: It's going to rain…

AERIS: I know! That's what I'm waiting for!

CLOUD: What?

AERIS: We never had any rain in the slums…

CLOUD: Mm. Yeah…

AERIS: Hey Cloud, what's your favorite kind of weather?

CLOUD: Hmm… cloudy, I guess…

AERIS: **(giggling)** why am I not surprised? **(Turning her attention to the sky)** I like the rain.

CLOUD: Really? I wouldn't have expected that from you…

AERIS: Listen! You can hear the trees, the ground – you can tell that they're waiting for the rain. There hasn't been any in a month!

They remain silent for a moment. Cloud looks puzzled

AERIS: I couldn't hear them before, you know, squashed beneath that big noisy city…

**(A light rain begins to fall.)**

AERIS: Ah! It's here!

**(She begins running through the meadow excitedly.)**

AERIS: Whoo!!!

CLOUD: Wait! Come back!

He catches up to her and takes her arm, gently urging her to stop

CLOUD: Enough already! We're gonna get soaked!

AERIS: **(laughing)** Relax, it's fine!

CLOUD: But…

AERIS: The plants are singing! Can you hear them?

**(Cloud stops and smiles for a brief moment before catching himself and resuming his seriousness.)**

CLOUD: Come on, let's go back. You're going to catch a cold out here…

AERIS: **(giggling)** Always worrying about my safety...

CLOUD: That was the deal, remember? (he holds out his hand)

She smiles and accepts. The run back to the town together, hand in hand. Suddenly, Red XIII's voice interrupts.

RED XIII: It's nice to get out of the city every now and then, isn't it?

**(Cloud snaps back to the present. He briefly glances at Red XIII, acknowledging his presence before returning his attention the scenery.)**

CLOUD: **(jokingly)** So, is that why you decided to come along?

RED XIII: (**Joining Cloud in his viewing of the landscape)** I only wish to save this Planet...

CLOUD: You really think we're onto something that big, huh?

RED XIII: If it leads to the root of this whole energy fiasco, I'd say so.

CLOUD: Then you actually think we can solve something like that…

RED XIII: We can try. We succeeded once before.

CLOUD: Things are different now. Saving the Planet from monsters is one thing… but from humanity? **(he shakes his head)**

RED XIII: Hmm… it's like Tifa told me the other night: "saving the world is a tough act to follow."

CLOUD: Yeah… (**sighing)** where do you go from there?

RED XIII: Well, in your case, I think saving yourself would be a good place to start.

CLOUD: Save myself? From what?

RED XIII: Despair.

CLOUD: **(bitterly recalling his own words with irony)** Hm. Saving the world isn't enough. There has to be a personal stake in it too…

RED XIII: I take it you have yet to win the latter.

CLOUD: What about you, Red? You might think you have all the answers now, but one day, after you've put down your something-thousandth book, you'll look up around you and realize that none of it has anything to do with how you really feel about things… tell me, how can you have a heart and honestly find any comfort in believing that your loved ones are living on as a rock or a cactus somewhere?

RED XIII: Those who haven't forgotten how to listen to the Planet can sense the soul in all things…

**(Memories of Aeris in the rainy meadow briefly run through Cloud's mind…)**

CLOUD: I can't… I can't make something out of nothing… some people can, but I… I'm not one of them…

**(Red XIII looks at Cloud with somewhat sad eyes**. **Cut to the Highwind flying off into the horizon. Fade to the same horizon later in the day, tilting down to reveal the peak of Mt. Nibel, sticking out from a sea of fog. Cut to the Highwind landing nearby.)**

CAIT SITH: Alright, guys we made it! **(turning to Cloud)** Cloud, I have to ask a favor of you.

CLOUD: What is it?

**(The moogle lifts Cait Sith off its back and places him in a backpack before handing it to Cloud.)**

CAIT SITH: I need you to carry me.

CLOUD: What? Why?

CAIT SITH: **(pointing to the moogle)** I'm sending big guy here to Rocket Town.

**(Reeve's voice is heard from the moogle, using the same device that Marlene's voice is heard on when she's taken hostage on Disk 1.)**

REEVE/MOOGLE: I need to know what's happened to Cid that would cause him to run out the way he did. That, and… well, I have a personal matter of my own to settle with him…

RED XIII: That leaves three of us who are capable of fighting…

CLOUD: **(putting on the backpack)** Whatever. I'm used to working in threes…

ROOGLE: Don't worry: they tell me Cid's coming home tonight. My business with him shouldn't take very long, so the moogle will have enough time to walk back to your location on autopilot before we head into the mountains tomorrow. I'll be watching both units at all times, switching back and forth to see how everyone's doing. Right?

CAIT SITH: Right!

CLOUD: **(smirking as he shakes hands with the moogle) **Alright then, good luck.

**(Cut to Cloud and the others getting off the Highwind. The trope of the guild journeying on foot has returned, and the glorious occasion is rung in with a short montage showing the party crossing through various natural wonders on the world map accompanied by none other than the majestic world map music as they make their way toward the foot of Mt. Nibel. Eucalyptus trees sway in the wind; dark, moist forests are populated by colorful creatures and fantastic fungi. The montage ends with a shot of them walking down a picturesque, sunset-lit trail, tilting up to reveal the dark and foreboding mountain ahead. Fade to a nearby flat not far from the trail.) **

CLOUD: We'd better set up for the night before it gets any darker. Red, do you think you could fetch some wood?

RED XIII: Yes, I'll fetch. Would you like me to roll over while I'm at it? **(He walks off in a huff)**

CLOUD: Jeez…

VINCENT: I sense some tension between you two….

CLOUD: **(sarcastic)** Really?

VINCENT: Hmm. He means well, but… sometimes I think he forgets how to relate to others. It's too bad he can't find himself a mate.

CLOUD: **(smirking) **Well then, I guess he's no different from you or me…

VINCENT: **(not amused)** Eh…

* * *

**(Cut to the Highwind landing in a hangar outside of Rocket Town. The moogle gets off the airship and starts making his way toward town. Cut to the moogle knocking on the front door of Cid's house. Shera answers.)**

SHERA: **(startled by the giant creature in her doorway) **Oh! Um, hello…

ROOGLE: Sorry, to disturb you ma'am, but I was hoping I could speak with Cid.

SHERA: Oh… you better come inside…

**(The moogle complies.)**

SHERA: **(closing the door behind them) **Would you like some tea?

ROOGLE: Uh, no thank you, I don't drink…

**(Cut to a few moments later. The moogle is sitting at the kitchen table. Shera pours herself a cup of tea.)**

SHERA: I'm sorry Cid couldn't be here to receive you… he was supposed to be back from his little camping trip by now, but I guess he's going to be a little late…

ROOGLE: Do you think he's all right?

SHERA: I'm sure he just needed a little extra time… you can't rush these things.

ROOGLE: "These things"?

SHERA: Well, it's kind of complicated…

ROOGLE: Don't tell me -- "personal matters."

SHERA: Mmm… I'll let him be the one tell you about it when he gets back. You're his friend, after all.

ROOGLE: I see. Please excuse me for a moment…

* * *

**(Back on the outskirts of Mt. Nibel, Cloud and the others are sitting around a campfire when Cait Sith suddenly comes to life.)**

CAIT SITH: Hellooo? Am I interrupting anything?

CLOUD: No. Got any news for us?

CAIT SITH: I'm over at Cid's place right now, but I don't think I'll be able to solve the mystery of his disappearance until he gets back. I don't think it's anything serious, but it looks like he'll be gone longer than expected…

RED XIII: Well, they did say it was personal, didn't they? Maybe you should just drop it and --

CLOUD: It's fine, Reeve. Stay there as long as you have to.

CAIT SITH: But your numbers will be reduced! What if you're attacked?

CLOUD: Your job is to collect information. Leave the fighting to us. Trust me, we can handle it

CAIT SITH: **(hesitant) **All right…

CLOUD: So, any news from Midgar?

CAIT SITH: I spoke with Tifa earlier today. She tried not to show it, but I can tell she's worried sick about you.

CLOUD: Yeah. She has a good heart…

RED XIII: Reeve, could you tell us what the political situation is like over there?

CAIT SITH: Yeah, well, I was about to get to that… **(Sighing and shaking his head) **It looks like Ibsen's finished… get ready for the second mako age…

RED XIII: I see…

**(The others bear this news with silent indignation. Red XIII watches Cloud as he stares off into the fire. The camera focuses on the campfire, dissolving into the eternally burning bonfire at Cosmo Canyon. Thus another flashback of Cloud studies under Red XIII begins.) **

CLOUD: Red, what will happen if they start using mako again?

RED XIII: The Planet will be in pain...

CLOUD: I know, but what about the souls in the Lifestream? Will they be processed into fuel and burned away forever? People I knew?

RED XIII: The souls in the Lifestream existed as such long before they came to be associated with the people you speak of. Our souls have left and returned to the Planet many times, lived as many things.

CLOUD: But then that means… our memories cease to exist when we die?

RED XIII: They become one with the Planet as well…

**(Cloud seems disturbed by this prospect.)**

CLOUD: But all this time you've been telling me that death isn't the end…

RED XIII: That's correct.

CLOUD: Maybe not the end for the Planet's energy, but it's still the end for us! Without any memories of own, how can we remain ourselves?

RED XIII: Why can't you see that our selves are not limited to our egos? The soul does not fear death as the ego does. The soul knows that everything is reciprocal, connected.

CLOUD: Then what difference does it make if we use mako? When we burn it, doesn't it just convert to energy that can return to the Planet like everything else? It's all "connected," right? So why does it matter?

RED XIII: I… I don't know. However --

CLOUD: You're wrong, Red. You say that the people can't exist in Lifestream as I knew them, but two years ago I was there - closer the Planet than you've ever been!

**(Red grimaces.)**

CLOUD: That was when I found someone… someone who by your logic shouldn't have been there…

RED XIII: Your imagination, a memory.

CLOUD: What difference does it make? Our minds and souls both come from the Planet, don't they? My memories of Aeris are made from the same stuff she is!

RED XIII: **(muttering)** I figured that's what this was all about. **(Resuming his usual tone) **Listen, Cloud, what we remember and what actually was are two different things. I learned that when I found my father's resting place…

CLOUD: This is nothing like that! What I remember was real… I was in the Lifestream and I saw her reach out to me… I heard an answer from the Planet, and I knew then that I could meet her there…

RED XIII: There?

CLOUD: The Promised Land.

RED XIII: We're living in the Promised Land right now! Are you so selfish that you can't see that? Can't you see that Aeris is here with us, along with everyone who has ever lived?

CLOUD: I don't want everyone, I want her!

**(Cloud's words echo through the canyon as Red is momentarily speechless.)**

RED XIII: **(aside) **too selfish to see... **(sighing**) I cannot continue to teach you, Cloud. I've failed you. I'm sorry.

CLOUD: **(getting up, annoyed)** Believe me, it's not a problem.

RED XIII: Nevertheless, you are always welcome here.

CLOUD: **(walking away as he throws the amulet given to him by the tribe on the ground)** Don't bother…

**(Back to the present.)**

CLOUD: Red…

RED XIII: Hm?

CLOUD: Is there really a difference between the soul and the ego?

CAIT SITH: **(aside)** I'm going to bed…

RED XIII: Why are you asking me that now?

CLOUD: Humor me.

RED XIII: Well, I suppose one way of putting it would be that the ego believes that when your life ends, everything else ends with it, but the soul knows that life goes on after death. That is why spiritually deprived individuals, like the Shinra, hoard as much wealth as they can in a single lifetime, while those who are enlightened don't feel any greed, and are content with letting things pass on.

CLOUD: …is love an act of greed then?

VINCENT: **(gravely)** Without a doubt.

RED XIII: No, not unless you refuse to let go…

CLOUD: Let go? So you're saying we shouldn't care about anything?

RED XIII: I'm saying that you should take joy not in the possession of things, but in their being…

**(Cut to Reeve raptly listening in.)**

CLOUD: What's that supposed to mean?

RED XIII: It means it's not necessary to cling to something in order to care about it! When you get so wrapped up in having something all to yourself you lose sight of everything that's important about it! I only wish I knew how to make you realize that….

CLOUD: All right Red, maybe you do have all the answers, but you're just too damned proud to realize that you can't just shove them down people's throats the way you do! You shouldn't be "making" people realize anything!

**(Red XIII looks at Cloud, stunned.)**

CLOUD: Bugenhagen could have just told you the truth about your father, but he didn't! Why do you think he sent us to risk our lives in that cave back then, fighting through all those poison spiders and molten lava and who knows what else? Just for the hell of it?

**(Red XIII doesn't answer.)**

CLOUD: He did it because we all have to navigate the darkness and find the truth for ourselves! He knew that the only thing a teacher is supposed to do for a student is show them the entrance to the cave!

**(After contemplating these words, Red XIII nods.) **

RED XIII: Yes, well… think you already know where yours is **(he looks toward Mt. Nibel, then turns back to Cloud and smiles**). I'll be behind you the whole way…

Cloud pulls his amulet from Cosmo Canyon from of his pocket and stares at it for a moment. He looks to Red, who nods for him to put it on.

CLOUD:Okay. **(He slips on the amulet and tucks it under his shirt).**

**(Red smiles. Cut to Reeve, going to bed for real this time, satisfied with the reconcilliation of his friends.)  
**

* * *

**(Cut to a few establishing shots of Wutai, ending with a shot of the exterior of the Turtle's Paradise pub. Cut to inside the pub. Yuffie is sitting at the bar, by herself.)**

YUFFIE: Here's to another lousy Friday night… **(she gulps down another drink)**

**(Shortly after this, someone sits down next to her.)**

ELENA: You old enough to be in here, kiddo?

YUFFIE: **(not amused)** I guess it's been about time for another one of your vacations. **(looking around the room)** Your pals around?

ELENA: No, just me.

YUFFIE: … same here.

ELENA: You know, a young, attractive girl like yourself shouldn't be going to bars alone… **(innocently) **someone could take advantage of you…

YUFFIE: Gimme a break, I could snap the neck of every deadbeat in this place!

**(She cuts the air with a few flaccid punches before almost falling over. Elena catches her and props her back upright.)**

ELENA: **(eyeing the empty glasses next to her)** With all that liquor in you, I'm surprised you can still hold your head up.

YUFFIE: **(still surly)** Eh, what's it to ya?

(A brief silence passes)

ELENA: What are you doing in a place like this anyway?

YUFFIE: Trying to forget how boring this stupid town is.

ELENA: Ah… well,things definitely aren't as exciting as they used to be. Remember the last time we were here together? You, me…the Don…

YUFFIE: Yeah, it'll make a great story to tell kids: the time mommy almost got raped…

ELENA: **(smiling)** Such a taboo subject, and yet so fascinating…

YUFFIE: What are you talking about?

ELENA: Rape, of course… (**She grins lewdly)**

YUFFIE: You're crazy...

ELENA: Oh, but it seems like something that would be right up your alley…

YUFFIE: What?!

ELENA: Rape… from the Latin _rapere_: to steal, plunder, etc.

YUFFIE: **(sarcastic**) Ha-ha.

ELENA: So tell me, do you still have that lovely materia collection of yours?

YUFFIE: Maybe I do, maybe I don't…

ELENA: Yes, of course…how rude of me! I should know better than to ask a lady like yourself about such things…

YUFFIE: **(sarcastic)** Yeah, like rape: you know, just one of "those things"

ELENA: **(laughing)** You're great!

YUFFIE: I try…

**(An awkward silence follows.)**

ELENA: Hey, let's have a drink together! I'm buying.

YUFFIE: Yeah, whatever… **(she hiccups)**

**(Elena orders.)**

ELENA: You'll love this. Me and the guys used to get it every time we came here.

YUFFIE: **(sarcastic)** Just like the guys… perfect.

**(The drinks arrive.)**

ELENA: What should we drink to?

YUFFIE: **(yawning)** Whatever you want…

ELENA: How about… to the new jukebox they've installed here!

YUFFIE: **(looking around)** What the heck are you talking about?

**She quickly slips something in Yuffie's drink**

ELENA: Hmm, I could have sworn there was something like that when I came in… Oh well, to friends then!

**(They clink glasses. Pan to the clock on the wall and lapse to a little while later.)**

YUFFIE: Ugh…

ELENA: Something wrong?

YUFFIE: I dunno, it's just…**(she gags)**

ELENA: You don't look so well… we'd better get you home.

YUFFIE: All right… **(she gags again)**

ELENA: Easy now; don't push yourself… **(helping here up) **there we go…

**They begin to slowly make their way out of the bar**

(cut to Yuffie's "hideout". Yuffie is wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of tea)

ELENA: There, isn't that better?

YUFFIE: Yeah, thanks…

ELENA: Now, if we only had…ah, nevermind…

YUFFIE: What?

ELENA: Some heal materia: a poisona spell would take care of this in an instant.

YUFFIE: The lever on the wall… opens up a safe…

ELENA: Great, we'll have you feeling better in no time! **(smiling) **Don't worry I know how protective you are when it comes to materia… I promise I'll be as gentle as if it were my own --

**(Elena pulls the lever. As in the game, this causes a cage to fall on top of her.)**

ELENA: (**grumbling)**

YUFFIE: **(Throwing her blanket and tea on the floor) **Alright, what the hell is going on! You think I'm stupid? What did you spike my drink with? Talk, damn it!

ELENA: Calm down, will you?

YUFFIE: Calm down? What are you, crazy? I'm not just gonna sit here and… **(struggling)** and…**(she doubles over)**

ELENA: You feel him inside, don't you?

YUFFIE: **(terrified) **What's…happening to me?!

ELENA: Oh, it's perfectly natural, dear – all in the genes. Welcome to the family…

**(A look of terror flashes across Yuffie's face.)**

ELENA: Now then, be a good girl and get me out of this thing, will you?

**(Yuffie tries to resist but fails as she is gripped by a greater power. She lifts the lever and retracts the cage)**

ELENA: How obliging of you. **(grabbing her)** So, what do see we take a look at that pretty little materia collection of yours?

YUFFIE: **(choking on tears of rage)** Damn you…

* * *

**(Cloud stumbles upon Aeris, sitting next to a waterfall like a figure out of a classical painting.)**

CLOUD: Aeris…

AERIS: Did you miss me?

CLOUD: … more than anything… (**he smiles briefly before receding into sadness)**

AERIS: Something wrong?

CLOUD: It's just… how can I be sure it's really you?

AERIS: You can't.

**(Cloud looks at her again and she's gone, with only a pink ribbon left in her stead. Cut to them in the gondola on their date in the Gold Saucer.)**

AERIS: I want…

**(Cut to Aeris on the altar. Cut back to gondola.)**

AERIS: I want to…

Back to the altar. Sephiroth descends. Back to gondola. Back to altar. The blade draws nearer and near until... cut to an explosion of fireworks at the gold saucer. Aeris appears in the foreground

AERIS: I want to meet you.

**(She turns around and starts walking way.)**

CLOUD: No, wait! I want to meet you too! I just don't know where to look! Please, just tell me and I'll go there, I promise…

AERIS: All you have to do is come home.

CLOUD: You mean… Nibelheim?

AERIS: Come home, Cloud.

CLOUD: **(reaching out to her)** Please, don't go…

**(She stops and begins to turn around. Just as she is about to face him, Cloud suddenly wakes up and in the place of her face is that of a snoring Red XIII. With a sad expression, Cloud rolls on his back and reaches up to the stars, as wee see in an overhead camera angle (suggesting that someone might be watching over him). The score quotes the Lifestream theme. He sighs. Rolling over on his other side now, he spots Vincent in the distance, sitting on a tree stump. Cloud gets up and approaches him.)**

CLOUD: Can't sleep?

**(Vincent gives an affirmative grunt.)**

CLOUD: You should really try and get some rest for tomorrow…

VINCENT: I have years worth of rest…

CLOUD: Ah.

VINCENT: For years we slept next door to each other in different chambers of the same hell…

CLOUD: …

VINCENT: So, are you ready to go back to it?

CLOUD: Vincent… there's something I should tell you.

VINCENT: Hm?

CLOUD: There's this feeling that I have. The closer we get to Nibelheim, the stronger it becomes.

VINCENT: Dread.

**(Cloud shakes his head.)**

CLOUD: The last time I felt this way was two years ago… as we approached the Northern Crater.

VINCENT: Any idea what it means?

CLOUD: I… I don't want to think about it.

VINCENT: I see…

CLOUD: I'm not a clone. I don't feel the drive toward the Reunion, but…

VINCENT: But you still know when you're getting near… it's in your blood…

**(Cloud nods.)**

VINCENT: Hm. I've been getting something like that, a feeling that's been growing…

CLOUD: Huh?

VINCENT: Somehow, I feel as if all life on this Planet, especially those we know… it feels as if they're teetering on the brink of total destruction…

CLOUD: But… how is that possible?

VINCENT: I don't know… it's just a feeling. Anyway, you should probably try and get some rest for tomorrow.

CLOUD: **(shuddering) **Yeah, right…


	4. Act III

Final Fantasy VII: Full Circle

Act III

* * *

**(Seventh Heaven, the next day. Marlene and Tifa are about to play a board game. They begin setting up the pieces.)**

MARLENE: There's supposed to be two dice!

TIFA: Don't worry, I'm sure the other one is here somewhere….

**(She looks through the box but turns up empty handed.)**

MARLENE: Papa was the last one put it away, I bet he lost it! He's big and clumsy and always drops things with his metal hand…

TIFA: **(laughing)** Come on honey, that's not a very nice thing to say.

MARLENE: **(innocently) **Sorry!

TIFA: It's all right…

MARLENE: I'm gonna go look for the other piece now, okay? **(she runs upstairs and into Barret's room)**

**(Tifa follows her. Marlene is feeling around under his bed.)**

TIFA: Marlene, you know your father doesn't like you messing around in here! He'll be back soon enough, you can ask him to look then **(in an enticing tone)** …and you know, if we wait for him, he can play with us too!

MARLENE: **(her eyes light up)** Really?

TIFA: **(smiling) **Come on, let's go do something else…

MARLENE: Okay, I'll stop…

They begin to leave the room. Unable to resist, Marlene takes one last look under the bed. She spots the missing die.

MARLENE: Wait, I found it! **(She kneels down to reach for it)**

TIFA: You did?

MARLENE: **(straining)** I can't reach it!

TIFA: I'll get it…. and then no more going through papa's stuff, okay?

MARLENE: Okay.

**(Tifa reaches under the bed and feels around for the die. In the process she unintentionally pulls out a ski mask. She stares at the mask in her hand, horrified.) **

TIFA: Marlene… go to your room for a while…

MARLENE: Am I in trouble?

TIFA: No, sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong… you didn't do anything…

MARLENE: Then can we still play when papa gets home?

TIFA: **(sighing)** I don't think so…

**Skip ahead to later. Barret walks through the door in a jolly mood. **

BARRET: Hello? Anyone home? Where are my two favorite ladies hiding? Hellooo?

**He walks upstairs to his room. Tifa is waiting for him there, sitting on his bed**

BARRET: Tifa?

**She tosses him the ski mask. A long, painful silence commences. **

TIFA: You helped bomb the refinery… didn't you?

BARRET: I'm sorry Tifa, I…

TIFA: You… you liar! **(She slaps him)** you said you reformed **(she slaps him again)** two years ago! **(She slaps him yet again)**

BARRET: Ow! Hey now…

TIFA: **(She slaps him again…)** I thought we had grown out of this nonsense together! **(…and again)**

BARRET: Ow! Quit slapping me, you -- **(he gets slapped for the sixth time)**

** A brief pause**

BARRET: Feel better now?

TIFA: Not really.

BARRET: **(he takes a deep breath)** Look, I know back then I said I realized that bombing all those reactors was wrong. We all shared our feelings on the airship and everyone felt closer for it. I didn't lie either, I still think it's wrong. But it's just like all these people here who want to keep sucking things outta the Planet so they can power their cell phones and drive their fancy cars: they know what they're doing is wrong, they've seen the evidence right in front of 'em, but they can't stop because they don't know any other way. It's like a train…

TIFA: It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it, blah blah.

BARRET: But it's true! And if they can't change, then there'll always have to be an AVALANCHE!

TIFA: You're a coward…

BARRET: Tifa, these people watched the Planet spring into action and save their asses from total destruction, and they're still debating whether or not it's alive! If they can't listen to reason, we don't have a choice!

TIFA: These things take time!

BARRET: And how much time do we have until they make a decision we can't undo? People are getting impatient… they want to decide the future now!

TIFA: Have you thought about your daughter even once during all of this? Have you thought about the kind of example you want to set for her? Why don't you go to Marlene right now and tell her that violence will solve all of life's problems -- that's what you believe, isn't it?

BARRET: I…

TIFA: Don't say anything. Just leave. I can't even look at you anymore!

**(Barret begins to exit.)**

TIFA: You're… you're no better than Dyne.

**(Zoom in on Barret's face, who clearly wounded by these words. He leaves quietly.)**

TIFA: **(shaking her head)** It's like nothing's changed at all…

**(Tifa leaves Barret's room, slamming the door behind her. Cut to Marlene, eavesdropping on the whole thing from her bedroom. Her eyes are filled with tears.)**

* * *

**(Having passed through the pleasant outskirts of the mountain, Cloud, Red, and Vincent come upon the beginning of the twisted, spooky neck of the woods that fans typically associate with Mt. Nibel.) **

CLOUD: This path will take us to the end…

**He points to an area replete with bats, jagged rocks, dark clouds, and every other ominous thing you can think of. **

RED XIII: … seems appropriate.

CLOUD: Come on, if we keep moving we'll able to make it before dark…

**(They start heading down the path.)**

VINCENT: **(looking up at the sinister landscape ahead**) And so the nightmare begins… again.

* * *

**(Back in the study of the Shinra Mansion. Elena enters.)**

MM: Elena! Right on time as always.

ELENA: I've brought what you asked of me, sir.

**(She places a large chest on his desk. He opens it and dotes upon the materia inside.)**

MM: **(sifting through the chest)** Wonderful, wonderful!

ELENA: There's more…

**(Rude enters with Yuffie. Her hands are bound behind her back.)**

MM: Ah yes… so this is the new addition?

**(Yuffie scowls as Rude presents her to the MM.)**

MM: **(propping Yuffie's head up with his thumb under her chin)** quite lovely isn't she? **(To Yuffie) **It would be a pleasure to have you with us… alas, I cannot provide for a family any larger…

YUFFIE: **(trembling)** What are you going to do to me?

MM: **(to Elena)** It's been fifteen hours since they've been introduced into her system, correct?

**(Elena nods.)**

MM: Mm, yes… still good. **(To Yuffie)** Would you come a bit closer, my dear?

**(She complies, moving against her will. The MM smiles and lifts his hood. His face is at an obscure angle, but we can see that part of it is dark and disfigured like his arm. Yuffie squeals in disgust as they share a long, open-mouthed kiss. The MM's decaying face/body regenerates a little bit. The Jenova cells have been effectively sucked out of Yuffie.)**

MM: Take her away. We can kill her later if we need to.

YUFFIE: What?!

**(Rude starts ushering her out of the room.)**

YUFFIE: No, wait! Please! I'll… I'll pretend to like it next time! I -- Mmmph!

**Rude covers her mouth and drags her off. The MM is amused**

MM: **(Looking at the chest of materia)** Now then, choices, choices… **(Something catches his eye).** Ah…

**(Cut to a close-up of a red orb, reflecting the MM's satisfied expression.)**

* * *

**(Cut to a hideout in an abandoned warehouse filled with some thuggish-looking types. Barret enters.) **

RENO: Hey there partner, we thought you'd never make it. You missed tonight's meeting, you know. Someone else can fill you in on the details, but to sum things up, it's all

going well.

BARRET: I… I can't do this anymore…

RENO: What's that?

BARRET: I said I quit! **(composing himself)** I'm sorry, I just can't go on like this… it aint right…

RENO: **(sighing)** I thought this might happen. I suppose you found out how the group is controlled by Rufus Shinra, and now you want out?

BARRET: What?!

RENO: Oh, did I say too much? **(slapping his forehead)** Agh! I'm just terrible when it comes to spoilers!

**(Reno flashes a smug grin at Barret, who loses his temper and charges at him. The other members of the group point their guns at Barret, joined by a dozen PSS officers that spring from hiding. Barret freezes in his tracks.)**

RENO: **(wagging his finger)** ah-ah-ah!

**(Barret scowls at him.)**

RENO: Hmmm… well we can't just let you go, now that you know our little secret… and your friends and family, they'll be suspicious with you gone… I'll have to think of something for them as well…

BARRET: No!!!

**Barret jerks Reno's direction, prompting an officer to knock him out with the butt of his rifle**

RENO: **(feigning a sigh)** So much hassle, and all because of my big mouth…**(he laughs wickedly)**

**Back on Mt. Nibel, the team decides to take a quick rest**

CLOUD: **(sitting down**) We should be there in a few more hours…

RED XIII: Do we need to make any final preparations before we move in?

CLOUD: Not really…

VINCENT: So then, no searching for that personal reason this time around?

CLOUD: My reasons remain the same.

VINCENT: Well I found one…

CLOUD: Yeah?

VINCENT: But you have to tell us yours first. Your memory…

CLOUD: Oh, that. **(he takes a deep breath)** I remember when I was completely happy for a moment.

VINCENT: Hm?

CLOUD: Two years ago, I fell off the upper plate in Midgar. I remember plummeting through the air and thinking to myself, "this is it… I'm going to die."

VINCENT: Good times, huh?

CLOUD: No, it's what came afterwards. When I woke up I saw an angel and I thought I was in heaven. I… I remember looking at her face and thinking it would last forever, with me being dead and all. **(He pauses)** To think that there really is such a place as heaven, to think just for a moment that you know what happens after death **(laughing in spite of himself)** -- what a relief that is! But then this world comes back into the picture and eternity is over in an instant, just like that, and the next thing you know, even angels drop dead. And who can say what happens after something like that?

RED XIII: Cloud…

CLOUD: **(sighing)** So, Vincent, what's your reason?

VINCENT: My reason for fighting is that I may one day find a reason…

CLOUD: Cheater…

RED XIII: **(curious)** Vincent, what do you think your reason might be when you do find it?

VINCENT: I don't know. Something inspiring I guess… whatever moves me. I don't care what it is…

RED XIII: Well, you have to care about something to be moved by it…

VINCENT: Hm. I tried that once.

RED XIII: And you were moved?

VINCENT: Yeah. Worst moment of my life…

* * *

**(Evening in Rocket Town. A pair of dust-caked boots trudge tediously through the center of town, as if wandering in from a spaghetti western. Cut away to reveal a dust-caked pair of pants and denim jacket to match. Someone sees this weary traveler and calls out to him.)**

BYSTANDER: Captain!

**(The weary traveler ignores the other man and makes his way to a house at the end of town, slamming the door behind him. Cut away to inside.) **

SHERA: You did it?

**(We see the bottom half of the traveler's face. He grins.)**

CID: Yep.

**(She rushes to embrace him.)**

CID: From now on, nothing will come between me and to you two…

**(He gives her a swift kiss. She pulls away to prevent another.)**

SHERA: Listen, there's someone here to see you…

CID: Oh?

ROOGLE: **(stepping into view)** Um, Hi.

**(Cid smiles in surprise at the goofy looking guest.)**

* * *

**(Skip ahead. Cid and the moogle/Reeve are chatting in the backyard by themselves.) **

ROOGLE: So that's where things stand right now.

CID: All right, I can give you a lift to Nibelheim. And Shera won't like it, but… I'll fight by your side if things turn ugly. I've still got it, after all.

ROOGLE: Thank you…

CID: **(mumbling)** Eh, don't mention it…**(he scratches his arm, briefly revealing a nicotine patch). **

ROOGLE: What's that?

CID: Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, I'm kinda quitting… I mean I _am_ quitting… for good!

ROOGLE: So that's what all this "personal matters" business has been about?

CID: **(shaking his head)** No, it's more than that… what, Shera didn't tell you?

ROOGLE: No.

CID: Oh. Well… she's pregnant…

ROOGLE: I see. Congratulations.

CID: This whole time I thought I was just burning away my own life in those goddamn sticks, but… I guess we're all kinda connected, you know? I've realized that these past few days…we all gotta break our addictions so our children can have clean air to breathe.

ROOGLE: Are you saying what I think you are?

CID: **(He nods)** I'm giving up on oil. Shera's convinced me of this global warming thing: she says the scientific evidence is indisputable… and who am I to dispute that with a scientist?

**(Cut to a shot of Reeve in his bed, smiling.)**

ROOGLE: But how will you fly?

CID: I won't. I walked back here. The Tiny Bronco is lying in some ditch right now.

ROOGLE: Isn't that a little… extreme?

CID: **(grinning) **Hey buddy, extreme's my middle name!

ROOGLE: So you're really giving up the skies…

CID: Listen, I love the sky -- clear, blue skies. All my life I've tried to get as close as I can to them… but if we keep on trying to get closer, soon they won't be so clear and blue anymore, you see what I'm saying? If we try and have this world all to ourselves, there isn't gonna be any world left!

ROOGLE: Yes,find joy not in the possession of things, but in their being.

CID: Hmm… that's pretty deep of you, man…

ROOGLE: I got it from a friend…

CID: Heh…

**(After the two share a moment of tranquility, things suddenly become hectic as the moogle begins flailing about. A struggle can be heard from its speakerphone device: Reeve is shouting something, but his voice is drowned out by a great deal of noise and other voices. Cut the hospital. Reeve's hands are clinging to his control station, mashing buttons and causing random movements in the moogle. Just as he passes out from overexertion, he manages to press some kind of red panic button. His attackers, a group of PSS officers, carry his limp body away. They destroy the control station, failing to notice its flashing screen as it displays the words "auto-pilot activated." Back in Rocket Town, Cid is staring at the lifeless moogle, deeply disturbed. Suddenly, the moogle gets back up. No longer controlled by Reeve, it cannot speak, but only grunt in moogly gibberish.) **

CID: Reeve?! Are you alright!?

MOOGLE: **(jumping up and down anxiously)** Arooo!

CID: Damn it…

* * *

**(Back at Seventh Heaven. Marlene and Tifa are sitting at the table playing their board game as joylessly as possible.)**

MARLENE: Is Papa coming back soon?

TIFA: **(sighing)** I don't know, sweetheart…

**(A brief silence passes.)**

MARLENE: **(meek)** Do we have to keep playing this?

TIFA: Whatever makes you happy, honey…

**(Marlene contemplates for a moment and then dumps the game back in the box.) **

MARLENE: **(meeker)… **I was going to win anyway…

**(A knock is heard at the door. Tifa gets up and answers it.) **

RENO: Oh hey, sorry to bother you this late, but there have been some further developments in the Brennt case…

TIFA: Oh?

RENO: Yeah…We're gonna have to ask you to come back down to the station for a little while, if you don't mind…

TIFA: I can't. **(Indicating Marlene)** I'm the only one who's here with her right now…

RENO: She can come too…**(he flashes an unsettling grin)**

TIFA: I…

**(Tifa notices PSS officers standing behind Reno with handcuffs and weapons drawn.)**

TIFA: Marlene, run!

**(Marlene runs upstairs. Several PSS officers enter. Tifa fights them off admirably, using the diner to her advantage, moving fluidly between, beneath, and on top of tables, throwing chairs, diving behind the bar to avoid gunfire, etc. At one point she even plucks a handful of throwing darts from the wall and throws them in the face of an officer. Although valiant, her effort is in vain, as one officer manages to snag Marlene and drags her back downstairs, kicking and screaming.)**

MARLENE: Tifa!

**(Tifa freezes. She turns around to see Marlene in the arms of the officer.) **

RENO: It's over. Come along quietly.

**(Tifa complies, allowing herself to be handcuffed and ushered out of the Seventh Heaven at gunpoint. Her expression is one of muffled rage and anguish as she refuses to look Reno in the eye as he gloats over her. Marlene takes a cue from Tifa and stops struggling. Reno and the officers nod at each other to indicate a job well done. They leave the diner calmly, closing the door behind them.)**

* * *

**(Inside a dark, dank, prison cell.)**

REEVE: So this is the democracy we fought for… locked up without a charge. No trial, no justice… **(he pounds the floor angrily, only to reel in pain from the exertion)**

**(Barret glances at him with a disinterested expression.)**

REEVE: **(still wincing from his injury) **Don't you have anything to say about this?

**(Barret turns away without answering.)**

REEVE: Great… just great…

**(The cell door opens. A guard escorts in two more prisoners.)**

MARLENE: Papa!

BARRET: Marlene!?

**(Barret takes her into his arms. The guard begins to leave.)**

REEVE: **(hobbling toward the guard)** What the hell do you think you're doing? This is no place for child!

**(Reeve is violently repelled by the gaurd. His weakened body falls to the floor without any resistance. The guard exits.)**

TIFA: **(rushing to his side) **Reeve!

**(She helps prop him up.)**

TIFA: They're just leaving you here with your condition like this?

REEVE: Don' worry about me Tifa…

TIFA: But you'll die!

REEVE: **(laughing bitterly)** Their idea of due process, I suppose…

**(Marlene breaks away from Barret for a moment and notices Reeve.)**

MARLENE: Hey, I remember you! You're the bad kidnapping man! Let us go!

TIFA: It's not his fault, Marlene…

REEVE: No, Tifa… **(to Marlene)** I'm sorry dear, once again I've failed to build a city safe enough for you… and now you're with me in custody once more… forgive me.

BARRET: No!

**(Everyone turns to Barret.)**

BARRET: I'm the one who should be asking for forgiveness! This is…**(sighing) **it's all my fault. We're here because of my mistakes!

TIFA: Don't think about that now…

REEVE: Wait a minute… what exactly do you mean?

BARRET: **(hanging his head in shame)** I was part of the refinery bombings…

REEVE: What?

BARRET: It was a small group led by Reno and some other guys. I tried to get out of it while I still could, but…well, here we are.

TIFA: Reno? But he's the one who locked us up here!

BARRET: He's working for Rufus Shinra. That was the last thing he said to me, anyway.

**(Silence fills the room.)**

REEVE: Rufus… so, he's alive…

TIFA: **(stunned)** That's not possible…

REEVE: No, it all makes sense now. Once Rufus wipes out the oil industry, Midgar will be his…

BARRET: Shinra, Ibsen, all those corporations -- I wanted to see them burn so bad… so bad I didn't even realize that I'd become part of them. **(sighing)** I've earned my place in the company… right here.

TIFA: What are you saying? You can't just give up!

MARLENE: **(tearful)** Papa, don't leave us!

BARRET: I'm sorry Marlene… these hands have too much blood on them to carry you any more…

**(A brief moment of silence passes, punctuated only by Marlene's quiet sobs. Suddenly, Tifa stands up angrily.)**

TIFA: These hands aren't any cleaner!

**(Barret lifts his head slightly.)**

TIFA: Make a mistake once or twice, blow up a reactor or a refinery, what difference does it make? None of us are innocent here!

BARRET: But…

TIFA: **(gesturing to their surroundings)** Where do you think you're going to run off to anyway? It doesn't matter whose fault it is, we're stuck in this together… **(she gives a half-hearted chuckle) **it's like youalways said…

REEVE: There aint no evacuating this train!

**(Everyone looks at him funny.)**

TIFA: **(muttering to herself)** close enough… **(to Barret)** No matter what happens, we're still a family…

**(She takes his prosthetic hand. Marlene takes his real one.)**

TIFA: Please, we need you to be strong…

**(Barret contemplates for a moment. Suddenly, he perks up ever so slightly and gives Tifa an affirmative smile/nod.)**

BARRET: **(With newfound determination)** Reeve, can't you still control Cait Sith from here?

REEVE: **(shaking his head)** Though I have a mentally accessible backup control system, Shinra has apparently learned its lesson since they last had me locked up. All outgoing signals are blocked from here. I'm sorry…

BARRET: Damn! Come on, we gotta think!

**(They all sit in silence for a few moments.)**

REEVE: I've got an idea!

**(The others all perk up.)**

REEVE: **(biting his lip as he second-guesses himself)** Wait… nevermind…

**(Just as everyone's head sinks in disappointment, the wall behind them suddenly explodes!)**

TIFA: What's going on?

BARRET: What difference does it make? Now's our chance to get outta here!

**(Tifa runs out carrying Marlene while Barret carries Reeve. As several guards inevitably give chase, they make their escape across a strange structure. Suddenly, they realize where they're standing. The camera zooms out to show them on top of the Sister Ray cannon. Unable to turn back now, they make their way toward the end of the cannon. There's nowhere to run now. Reno appears before them.) **

RENO: End of the line...

**(Tifa and Barret scowl at him defiantly, standing protectively in front of Marlene and Reeve. Suddenly, a voice is heard calling seemingly out of nowhere.) **

VOICE: Run!

**(Everyone looks around in confusion.)**

VOICE: Run to the edge of the cannon!

**(Barret and Tifa grab Marlene and Reeve and head for the edge.)**

RENO: Stop them!

**(The PSS officers open fire as the Highwind rises before the edge of the cannon. Cid throws down a rope ladder. Some of his crewmembers are providing cover fire with machine guns. Tifa and Marlene make it aboard safely. Barret (still carrying Reeve) grabs the ladder.)**

REEVE: Look out!

**(A bullet tears through part of the rope ladder, jostling Barret and Reeve. Barret grabs Reeve's hand. Reeve is dangling in his grip. A trail of gunfire slowly makes its way toward their hands**. **Barret's prosthetic arm is shattered. Reeve falls and manages to land on the side of the cannon's barrel, but it's too round, and he begins to slip.)**

EVERYONE: Reeve!

**(Cid throws down another ladder, but it's no use. Suddenly, Cait Sith's moogle appears and leaps from the Highwind onto the cannon, its robot body taking several bullets aimed at Reeve. In one deft motion, the moogle slings Reeve over its back.)**

REEVE: **(wincing as he bounces up and down on the moogle)** Ack! Keep it steady, will you?

**(The moogle successfully boards the airship with Reeve. Reno clenches his fist in frustration as the Highwind flies off. Cut back to the Highwind. Everyone is relieved that Reeve is safe.)**

CID: You alright, buddy?

REEVE: Yeah, thanks to friends like you…

**(The moogle becomes distressed and starts clinging him furiously.)**

REEVE: Ow! Hey now, I meant you too…

**(The moogle becomes pacified and lets go. Reeve sighs with exhaustion.)**

CID: **(To Reeve)** Well I guess it looks like I'll have to put off my retirement for just a little longer, eh?

REEVE: **(smiling at Cid's comment**) How did you find us?

CID**: (unzipping the zipper on the moogle's back to reveal its internal hardware) **One of my technicians reconfigured this guy here to trace your location from that doohickey in your head.

REEVE: But my outgoing signal was scrambled!

CID: Yeah, well my man found a way to reverse the bypass jamming frequency of the some shit… hell, I dunno. Talk to him about if you still give a damn by the time this is all over.

TIFA: Cid! There are children present here! **(She nods toward Marlene)**

CID: Oh… Right! **(aside)** Guess I better get used to it… **(To Marlene)** Heh, heh, sorry bout that sweetie! Here, why don't you play with… uh… **(Digging around his pockets)** hm… let's see… ah! **(He pulls a pack of matches from his goggle strap) **

TIFA: Cid!

CID: **(self satisfied)** Don't worry, I don't need them anymore… _I'm quitting_!

**(An anxious crewmember suddenly bursts in.)**

CREW MEMBER: Captain! Come Quick! We're under attack!

CID: What the f— **(he glances at Tifa's stern expression)** er, I'm on it!

(Cut to the deck of another airship following the Highwind.)

RENO: Are we in firing range yet?

CAPTAIN: Just twenty more seconds, sir...

RENO: **(aside, glaring at the Highwind) **You're not getting away from me…

* * *

**(A somewhat elaborate airship battle takes place. During the struggle we see the Highwind fire a missile or two, clearing up any remaining confusion as to what it was that blew up the wall of the jail cell (the missiles should have a distinct, identifiable sound). By the end of the battle, Reno's ship goes down, right in front of the Chocobo Bill's ranch. A comic moment ensues as the bewildered hicks on the ranch (sitting on their porch in their rocking chairs and strumming their banjos) gape at the huge ship as it skids to a stop just a few dozen yards short of crushing them. The chocobos are going crazy. Reno crawls out from the wreckage, relatively uninjured. Some officers trail behind him.)**

CHOCOBO BILL: You need some help, son?

RENO: Yeah… sure…**(he collapses)**

* * *

**  
(Back on the Barret is getting his broken prosthetic arm replaced with an old fashioned Gatling gun by one of Cid's mechanics. Tifa enters with Marlene, Cid, and Reeve, whom she pushing him in a wheelchair. Reeve is in clean clothes and hooked up to an IV, indicating that he has gotten proper medical attention.)**

BARRET: **(To Reeve)** You're lookin' better...

REEVE: Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you…

BARRET: Yeah, well AVALANCHE doesn't leave its members behind… right? **(He reaches out with his remaining hand)**

**(Reeve is speechless for a moment, clearly touched by the fact that he is still considered one of the gang, in Barret's eyes no less)**

REEVE: **(locking hands with Barret)** Right!

**(Everyone present smiles.)**

BARRET: **(To Reeve)** So… have you gotten in touch with Cloud and the others?

TIFA: Actually, that's what we came to talk about...

REEVE: The scrambler back in that detention facility has knocked my telepathic control system completely offline.

BARRET: So you can't reach them at all?

REEVE: I'm working with some of the crew in combining parts from the moogle with one of the ship's computers to create a makeshift control station for Cait Sith, but we don't know how long it will take, that is, if we can get it to work at all…

BARRET: **(sighing)** Then that means we gotta hurry…

CID: So, to Nibelheim then?

TIFA: Yes, but first I want Marlene to be taken somewhere safe.

**(Barret indicates agreement.)**

CID: **(nodding) **Don't worry, we'll be passing by Rocket Town not too long from now. **(Rolling his eyes) **The only thing she'll have to worry about there is Shera coddling her to death… **(whispering to Barret) **wife's a little "maternal" right now.

TIFA: Thanks, Cid. I don't know what Cloud and the others are facing over there, but… **(She pauses, as if gripped by a terrifying premonition)** it could be dangerous just being near Nibelheim right now…

* * *

**(Cloud, Red and Vincent crouch behind a rock as they gaze at the Shinra mansion, only a hundred meters or so away. Cloud is poking Cait Sith's lifeless body.) **

RED XIII: Still no word from him?

**(Cloud shakes his head.)**

VINCENT: What do we do now?

CLOUD: … we move in.

RED XIII: But we still don't know where Reeve is!

CLOUD: And if we don't go now, we may never know…

RED XIII: Hmm… very well then.

VINCENT: Are you ready to go back, Cloud?

**(He nods, taking his sword in hand for the first time in the whole script!)**

CLOUD: We're gonna rock that damn house to its foundations!

**(Vincent smirks.)**

* * *

**(Cut to inside mansion. It's completely dark. The front door opens as Cloud and the others step inside. Suddenly, the lights come on. Elena and Rude are standing at the top of the stairs flanked by SOLDIERs (actually, they'd technically be ex-SOLDIERs who just happen to be wearing their old uniforms)**

ELENA: That's as far as you go... except for Cloud, of course **(turning to Cloud)** we've been expecting you.

**(Cloud begins to reluctantly move towards them.)**

RED XIII: Don't do it! You'll fall into their trap!

CLOUD: Hasn't that been the plan all along?

RED XIII: Then I'm going with you!

RUDE: The only way you're following him is to the grave.

ELENA: Yes Cloud, if these two turn back, we might just spare your friends' lives.

VINCENT: So sure you can beat us, are you?

RUDE: But not everyone in your party has the privilege of falling in battle…

**(Elena throws Yuffie's shuriken, embedding it in the wall behind them.)**

RED XIII: I swear, if you've harmed her…

RUDE: Not yet. Not if you go quietly.

RED XIII: We're not backing down!

CLOUD: **(whispering to Vincent) **The Turks and the others are just puppets… the source is coming from coming from somewhere else…

VINCENT: What?

CLOUD: **(looking at the floor)** I can feel it… down below…

VINCENT: I see…**(raising his gun to provide cover-fire)** Go!

**(Cloud starts for the basement.)**

ELENA: **(laughing)** Go ahead, we won't stop you…

**(Vincent grimaces.)**

RED XIII: What's going on?

VINCENT: I didn't want to say anything until I was sure…

RED XIII: Say what?

VINCENT: Our opponents here are being controlled through Jenova cells.

**(Red looks at him in shock.)**

VINCENT: Something wicked is behind all of this…

RED XIII: And that's what Cloud has to face?

VINCENT: He has his job and we have ours…

RED XIII: **(charging the enemy)** That we do!

* * *

**(Back on the Highwind, Reeve is trying out the makeshift control station for Cait Sith, which is basically one of the ship's computers hooked to up to the moogle's detached head. Both the head an the body remain animated, and neither seems to mind the separation okay, maybe a little.)  
**

REEVE: Come on, don't fail me now…

**(A light comes on.)**

REEVE: YES! **(speaking into a radio device)** Cloud, are you there? Listen to me! Barret and Tifa and everyone else are coming to help! Can you hear me? Hold off until we get there!

(Cut to the catacombs beneath the mansion)

CLOUD: It's a little late for that for that now! **(He opens up his backpack for Cait Sith to poke his head out of)** Where have you been?

CAIT SITH: Long story… listen, we think Rufus Shinra is behind all of this…

CLOUD: Rufus?! So that's what Brennt was trying tell me…

CAIT SITH: Huh?

CLOUD: Nevermind. **(Heading towards the door to the study) **Just stick around for a few more minutes longer, I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

**(A muffled voice cries for help from the coffin room.)**

CAIT SITH: What was that?

**(Cloud tries to open the door to the coffin room, but it's locked.)**

CLOUD: Hang on!

**(Cloud hacks down the door with his sword to reveal Yuffie, who is chained to the wall.)**

YUFFIE: Cloud?!

CLOUD:Yuffie?!

**(He frees her.)**

CLOUD: Are you all right?

YUFFIE: … I think so… Cloud, something real bad is going down here. Rufus and the Turks are involved and…

CLOUD: I know… listen, I want you to get out of here. Going upstairs is the only way out of his place, but…

YUFFIE: But?

CLOUD: It's blocked off…

YUFFIE: By what?

* * *

**(Cut to Red and Vincent upstairs, desperately fending for themselves. The Turks remain on the sidelines, hurling various spells them. After a bit of this, Yuffie's voice suddenly calls out...)**

YUFFIE: So, steal my materia will you?

**(She jumps from the balustrade and springs off the wall, freeing her shuriken. She charges at Elena with it.)**

YUFFIE: YOU BITCH!!!

**(Elena raises her gun but Yuffie slices it in half, sending a materia orb inserted in one of its slots flying up in the air. In one deft motion she catches it and pops it in her shuriken. Elena charges up a lightning spell with the orb in the other half of her pistol, but Yuffie throws her off the balustrade into a cluster of soldiers, who all get hit with the lightning spell. Elena is down for the count. In light of this spectacle, Red and Vincent flash each other a quick smirk. However, just as things are beginning to look up, the camera cuts to outside, where SOLDIER reinforcements are surrounding the mansion.)**

* * *

**(Cut to Cloud kicking the door of the study open. The Mysterious Man (whose identity should be painfully obvious by now) greets him from his desk.)**

RUFUS: Ah Cloud, reunited at last.

CLOUD: Rufus… so it really is you…

RUFUS: Well, let's just say that I couldn't have done it without Mr. Shinra…

CLOUD: What?

RUFUS: Oh, where to begin? I suppose it all started two years ago… yes, as professor Hojo was on the verge of death.

**(Rufus proceeds to narrate a flashback of his story.)**

RUFUS: After he failed me in the task I had initially assigned to him, I willed Hojo's body back to the lab where I found another to serve me – one of his many failed experiments, a clone so weak that mother never even bothered with inviting it to the Reunion.

**(In a shot resembling Sephiroth's discovery of Jenova, we see the Hojo tear off the covering of the tank housing the clone Rufus speaks of. Hojo smashes open the tank with his own body, impaling himself on the glass. We see a close-up of Hojo's dead face, zooming into his eye.)**

RUFUS: Using the cells inside of the professor, I was able channel his thoughts to the clone, so that it could awaken and latch onto his memories needed to adequately reproduce Shinra's figure. But before it could assume any stable shape, this body had to acquire more strength. Once more, Hojo's wicked brain, now in the last throes of its post-mortem machinations, provided the solution…

**(We see the deformed clone entering a code on a keypad. A high-tech safe in the wall of Hojo's lab opens to reveal a collection of jars and canisters. The clone smashes open one jar and pulls out something resembling a stick of mutant beef jerky.) **

RUFUS: Would you believe it? The old man had kept it stashed away from the day I was born: the cord that had nourished me in my conception, the original tie between and mother myself, soon to be my lifeline once again! Somewhere in that forgotten piece of flesh lay my salvation: the stem cells of Jenova. The use of such a substance was without precedent, and no man of science could have guessed at the results of the enterprise on which I was about to venture my newest puppet, but…

**(We see the clone bite off a hunk of the umbilical cord and swallow it greedily.)**

RUFUS: It ended up being just enough to keep this body together, barely…

**(Cut back to the present, focusing on Cloud's backpack. Cut to a shot of to Reeve listening in. His mouth is hanging open with disbelief.)**

REEVE: **(aside) **Come on Cloud, keep him talking…

**(Back to the mansion.)**

CLOUD: You've gone insane.

RUFUS: Insane? Tell me, just who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to create another body for themselves in shape of the most powerful man in the world? Perhaps a bit redundant, seeing how I was poised to conquer this Planet myself, but…**(he pauses) **well, we both know how that turned out…

**(Cut to a flashback the first scene from the game's ending: Sephiroth's face is covered in blood as he falls backwards and disappears in a burst of light. Just before vaporizing, Sephiroth closes his eyes as we see in a close-up of his face, and, at the moment he explodes, we see the clone in the Shinra building open its eyes in an identical close-up.)**

RUFUS: With the president completely incinerated in the explosion that claimed his life, the stage was set for me to take his place. Although this unstable body gave me little to work with, it didn't matter if my shape was weak and deformed, for I was to play the part of Rufus Shinra, the crippled survivor of a most devastating attack. His Turks, loyal like the dogs they are, discovered my ruined body in the burning wreckage and have served me ever since.

**(As he says all this, we see Rufus being nursed back to health by the Turks, and, in one particularly disturbing shot, we see him ordering them to each eat a piece of the umbilical cord, which they do dutifully.)**

RUFUS: Yes, this body was once ruined… but now that we're here, so close together in this little one-on-one Reunion, I can feel my old strength returning! Look, I can stand again!

**(He gets up from his wheelchair.)**

CLOUD: Gee, it's a miracle.

RUFUS: Come on Cloud, what other explanation is there? Think about everything I've done thus far, how perfectly it fits my plans! Once the reactors are operational again, the Planet's resources will be further and further depleted. **(He laughs wickedly)** "Mako 2": it burns ten times cleaner because we use one hundred times the Lifestream!

**(Cloud grimaces.)**

RUFUS: Soon, the Planet will become so drained that just driving a stake in the ground will be enough to draw out all that's left! Of course, Cloud, you must realize that the soul of the Planet, its very essence, is always the last thing to go. After all, it's the most important part.

CLOUD:…

RUFUS: And once I've absorbed its soul, once it's completely inside of me, the Planet will begin to regenerate itself, growing bigger and bigger…why, I'll be the pregnant with life itself! **(He laughs maniacally)**

CLOUD: Give it up already, Rufus. I'm not buying it!

RUFUS: Oh, but you are. I know you are. I know every little thing running through that spiky head of yours...

CLOUD: I… I don't know what you're talking about!

RUFUS: Oh, but I think you do…

**(In a relatively lengthy sequence, "Rufus" transforms into Sephiroth.)**

CLOUD: No… this is impossible…

SEPHIROTH: Is it really? You know very well that Jenova can reconstruct appearance of any individual from another's memories… that's why I brought you here…

CLOUD: What?!

SEPHIROTH: You and your pathetic habit of clinging to the past! It's your memories Cloud -- together with mine, even this defective body can approximate my old strength! Just look at me! Every detail, so perfect… **(He feels his hair) **Ha! Even the bangs are there!

**(Seething with rage, Cloud tosses the backpack containing Cait Sith into a corner)**

CLOUD: It's all there… I never forgot any of it…

**(He charges at Sephiroth)**

CLOUD: I'll never forget you!!!!

**(Sephiroth smirks and raises his sword in defense)**

* * *

**(As the first clash of Cloud and Sephiroth's swords ring in their much-anticipated duel, we cut back to Red, Vincent, and Yuffie. The materia stolen from Elena fire has helped the situation considerably. However, the tables are turned once more as the SOLDIER reinforcements waiting outside start pouring through the front door. All the windows in the mansion are shattered and taken up by marksmen. The three heroes are surrounded.)**

YUFFIE: Uh-oh…

**Red and Vincent look at Rude, scowling defiantly**

RUDE: Fire at will…

**Cut to a close up of Yuffie's face as she closes her eyes tight**

**Machine gun fire is heard. Yuffie's eyes hesitantly open and soon widen with surprise **

BARRET: Come on!

**Barret's shooting has cleared a path outside. Red, Yuffie and Vincent make their escape. Rude and the soldiers remaining in the mansion quickly follow. Outside, they are joined by Cid and Tifa, who are busy fighting an entire town full of soldiers. Fan-pleasing action sequences are aplenty as the six heroes fight side by side, showcasing their different fighting styles in creative ways (Vincent stops bullets with his left arm and stabs a guy with his toes). The Highwind circles overhead, aiding the heroes by exchanging gunfire with the soldiers below.**

* * *

**(Back in the basement, Cloud and Sephiroth are still going at it. They make their way from the study to the catacombs, where they duel for a considerable amount of time.)**

SEPHIROTH: **(after a deflecting a particularly impressive attack)** Well, you've certainly been staying in shape…

**Cloud charges at him with increased anger**

SEPHIROTH: **(laughing)** I guess you don't take well to flattery…

* * *

**(Back in the mansion's study)**

CAIT SITH: Cloud?

**(He crawls from the backpack cautiously, looking around to make sure the coast is clear. He puts on the backpack himself and quickly combs over the study, stuffing various documents and other evidence in his backpack. Cut to his computer's POV, which has been recording everything, indicated by the blinking red dot in the upper corner. Once he's finished, he makes his way outside by squeezing through a tiny window in the basement (the extremely narrow kind that line up with the ground outside). Hiding behind a barrel, he observes the action outside helplessly, unable to do anything without his moogle. Cut to Reeve, glancing at the headless moogle body, sitting nearby. After some more shots of Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, etc fighting, the headless moogle falls from the sky, felling several soldiers that happen to be in the diameter of its impact. Cait Sith appears and swiftly mounts the moogle, jumping inside the gap where the head used to be like a cockpit and controlling the moogle's body like the magitek-armor of FF6. Meanwhile, Tifa and Rude are engaged in a hand-to-hand duel of their own. He grabs her and throws her against the well at the center of town. He tries to follow this up with a punch but she jumps over it, landing on top of the well its opening is boarded off. Rude follows her. They stand on opposite sides of the well, circling each other…)**

RUDE: Hm. Too bad… I always thought you were kind of cute…

TIFA: So you brought me up to the well? **(scoffing)** Just like every other boy in this town!

RUDE: … well?

**(Tifa smirks and shatters the wooden planks beneath their feet, catching the rim of the well as they fall. Rude, caught by surprise, falls all the way to the bottom in a slightly comic manner. All three Turks are now down for the count. As for the rest of the gang, it appears that they've sufficiently cleaned things up: any soldiers left standing if there are any retreat.)**

* * *

**(Back in the mansion, Cloud and Sephiroth have the whole place to themselves. They continue their duel for an appropriate amount of time. On the upper floor of the mansion's main hall, Sephiroth corners Cloud.)**

SEPHIROTH: Give it up Cloud. One way or another, Shinra will rise again... and this time it will be mine!

CLOUD: I won't let you... I...

**(Images of Aeris flash.)**

CLOUD: I won't let her be burned away just to light up some goddamn street!!

**(In a heroic feat of acrobatics, Cloud manages to leap behind Sephiroth and knock him backwards, causing Sephiroth to crash through one of the mansion's giant windows. Cloud peers out at the ground below, but sees nothing. He crawls out the window and climbs on top of the roof. Sephiroth is there, waiting.)**

SEPHIROTH:** (looking over the town) **Brings back memories, doesn't it?

**(Cloud grimaces.)**

SEPHIROTH: Although you know, I could have sworn this place burned down... Hmm…well, better late than never, I suppose.

**(Using the materia stolen from Yuffie, Sephiroth summons Ifrit.)**

CLOUD: No!

**(Cloud starts running toward Ifrit, but Sephiroth blocks his path.)**

SEPHIROTH: What are you going to do about it, hmmm?

**(Ifrit begins setting fire to the town. The townspeople (who have been hiding in their houses up to this point) start running outside. One unlucky guy is incinerated by a deliberate blast from Ifrit. Back on the roof of the mansion, Sephiroth corners Cloud once more.)**

SEPHIROTH: You can make this stop at any time, you know…

CLOUD: …

SEPHIROTH: **(eyeing Cloud up and down as he presses in closer with sword) **All you have to do is give me one thing…

**(Sephiroth is interrupted by gunfire and other loud noises. He looks over in the direction of the sound, at which point Cloud breaks free. Below we see that the sounds have come from Cloud's companions.)**

BARRET: We got this one! You just worry about kickin that fool's ass!

CID: Yeah, go get 'em, kid!

TIFA: I believe in you…

**(Cloud smiles at these words of encouragement and advances more confidently toward Sephiroth, who scowls and flies off into the mountains. We see a look of determination from Cloud, and he's off. Cut to the rest of gang as they begin their battle with Ifrit.)**

BARRET: **(lifting his gunarm) **Alright you big flamin' sonuvabitch, let's do this!

TIFA: Barret!

BARRET: Huh?

TIFA: Don't go crazy just yet! I'm going to get the villagers of here and I'm counting on you and the others to keep this thing distracted during that time, okay?

BARRET: You got it!

TIFA: Cid, how many people can your ship hold?

CID: About five hundred…

TIFA: Then let's get to work!

CID: Yes ma'am!

**(With these words, Barret leads Vincent, Red and Yuffie in an attack on Ifrit while while Cait Sith, Cid, and Tifa help the townspeople onto the airship to evacuate town. The battle with Ifrit continues for a tasteful amount of time.)**

* * *

**(Cut to Cloud in the mountains, trying to track Sephiroth. As he crosses a rope bridge, Sephiroth's voice emanates from out of nowhere.)**

SEPHIROTH: Back then you could barely get by with skinned knees...

**(The rope bridge suddenly snaps. Cloud tumbles and crashes on the rocks below. Badly bruised and scraped, he gets up in a rage.)**

CLOUD: Sephiroth! Come out and fight! Where are you?!

**(Cloud spots the Nibelheim reactor in the distance. At that very moment, the abandoned reactor suddenly comes to comes to life, lights shining and turbines spinning. Cloud now knows where he must go.) **

* * *

**(Back in town, Cait Sith joins Barret, Vincent, Red, and Yuffie**

RED XIII: Reeve, how's the evacuation coming?

CAIT SITH: Almost done! Cid and Tifa will be back with you guys in a minute once these folks are dropped off somewhere safe. What about you guys?

VINCENT: We can't win. This thing… it's unbeatable…

BARRET: No! We have to keep goin', we've got no other choice!

RED XIII: He's right: this monster has been summoned to search and destroy on sight, and it could easily catch up with the villagers if we don't stop it…

YUFFIE: But we can'tstop it!

RED XIII: We have to try!

CAIT SITH: We need a miracle…

Ifrit launches a fireball at them, which they dive and scramble to dodge, taking cover behind one of the houses. Having narrowly escaped, Vincent nonchalantly shakes out his burning cape.

YUFFIE: Yeah, a miracle.

**(Suddenly, a drop of water lands on Yuffie's face. She wipes it off with her finger, looking around in confusion. Soon, everyone is looking up at the sky. A light rainfall breaks out, steadily growing until the ground is covered in inches of it. Ifrit cries out in pain, falling to his knees as his body emits steam. The flames consuming the town start to shrink and the heroes rejoice.)**

* * *

**(Cut to the Highwind, which has landed on the outskirts of town to unload the villagers, who are also rejoicing in the rain as it extinguishes their town. Tifa is standing with them.)**

TIFA: **(looking up at the sky)** Thank you…

* * *

**(Cut back to the fight in town.)**

BARRET: Alright, let's finish this bastard off!

**(Barret starts firing on Ifrit, who is too weak to fight back at this point. Red wanders aside with a look of concern on his face.)**

RED XIII: Cloud…

**(He dashes off. Vincent notices him and follows.)**

* * *

**(Cloud enters the reactor. He surveys the area , but finds no sign of Sephiroth. It is eerily quiet, save for the sinister hum of machinery and hissing of steam. The entire reactor is unbearably hot and dripping with humidity. Long-distance shots imply that Cloud is being watched. He walks into the old pod room, bathed in red light as he remembers it. And then he sees him... atop the staircase, standing beneath the doorway to the room that once contained Jenova.)**

CLOUD: Sephiroth…

SEPHIROTH: **(bowing aristocratically in a mocking fashion)** Cloud…

CLOUD: Why are you doing this?!

SEPHIROTH: **(smug)** Doing what?

CLOUD: Your plan is ridiculous! You can't contain the Planet anymore than can it can contain you! Everything in this universe is reciprocal!

SEPHIROTH: Is it now?

CLOUD: Why go through all the trouble of killing the Planet when you can just kill yourself? Either way you'll become one with it! What difference does it make?

SEPHIROTH: What difference indeed… your Planet has denied itself to mother and I on account of our being different! We have been driven to these actions by persecution!

CLOUD: You what?

SEPHIROTH: Although we may wander alongside the Lifestream, we can never become part of it. It is the blood of this Planet, and like any bloodstream, it will attack all foreign bodies that attempt to enter…

CLOUD: Jenova…

SEPHIROTH: As long as this Planet seeks to eradicate our kind, we have no choice but to overthrow it.

CLOUD: Your kind? No matter what your soul inhabits, it will always be human, Sephiroth…

SEPHIROTH: No! It is bound to mother! Can't you see? Everything I've done has been for her… for all the outcasts in the universe! I will be their savior!

CLOUD: You're crazier than ever…

SEPHIROTH: Once mother and I have this Planet under our regime, everyone will be accepted as they are. We will welcome all forms of life from every corner of the galaxy to come and prosper with freedom and equality in our new world!

CLOUD: After you destroy all indigenous life to create your "new world" here…

SEPHIROTH: **(smiling)** But what is the population of a single Planet to that of the entire cosmos? The world we create will serve a purpose that extends far beyond your little ecosystem... it will be a shining beacon in darkness of space, a guide to all the lost and forsaken beings condemned to wander the void, just as mother was. They will come to us for salvation, and as they do, a new reunion will take place on a galactic scale!

CLOUD: I won't allow it!

**(Sephiroth begins to laugh. Cloud glares at him.) **

SEPHIROTH: **(aside, laughing) "**Won't allow it," he says… **(To Cloud)** … On the contrary, _you, _Cloud are the one that makes it all possible… you always have been. Why do you think I went through all the trouble of bringing you here?

**(Cloud looks at him with a mixture of horror, skepticism and confusion.)**

SEPHIROTH: Ah yes, I know that feeling. Strange isn't it? For whatever reason the truth always chooses to show itself in this reactor…

CLOUD: What truth? You're not even making sense!

SEPHIROTH: Oh, but I can explain everything.

**(Cloud charges at him.)**

CLOUD: I've heard enough out of you!

**(Sephiroth raises his sword and counters Cloud. At first, Cloud's rage seems to gives him the advantage, but it soon becomes apparent that this is not the case as his attacks become more and more desperate and Sephiroth avoids them with less and less effort.)**

SEPHIROTH: Enough of this! You _will_ listen to me!

**(He impales Cloud's shoulder, pinning him against a wall)**

SEPHIROTH: That's better.

**(Sephiroth recreates Hojo's lab around them, just as he recreated Nibelheim in the Northern Crater in the game)**

CLOUD: **(wincing) **What… is this?

SEPHIROTH: Your memories, Cloud! Don't you recall being here? **(he points to a familiar capsule) **When you passed mother in the Shinra building, she sensed them – those precious memories -- giving her life again, giving me a body to feel with again -- the feeling of the masamune in my hands as it slid down the president's spine… and I owe it all to you! You initiated the Reunion! You made _everything_ happen, and all because you simply couldn't resist going after a pretty pink dress… ha ha, I love it!

**(Sephiroth twists the blade as Cloud cries out in agony.)**

CLOUD: **(recovering his breath)** Why… why me? Why couldn't Jenova use Hojo… or the president?

SEPHIROTH: Ah, but without a head, mother needed a surrogate brain to awaken... and that could only be accessed remotely through the cells in you -- "insiders" to relay the information.

CLOUD: No…

SEPHIROTH: So you see, just as you brought me to life, so shall you keep me alive until I have finally attained the immortality of this Planet! Your mind has already given me half the strength I need. All that remains now is to have your body: we must join together in one, final, reunion.

CLOUD: Never.

SEPHIROTH: Don't you see though? We complete each other! You are the only one strong enough to be my other wing! **(He gestures upward with one arm)** Join me in the flight to eternity and I will give you everything your heart desires... after all, if you are to become part of me, it should suit us both to be comfortable, don't you agree?

CLOUD: I don't want anything from you…

SEPHIROTH: **(smiling)** Is that so?

**(He removes his sword and takes on the shape of Aeris. She caresses Cloud lovingly.)**

CLOUD: **(wincing at the touch)** No! You son of a bitch! **(He shuts his eyes) **

AERIS: Come on Cloud, it'll be just like old times! Only now we'll have the chance we never could…

CLOUD:…

AERIS: Do remember when we went out on our date? Weren't things happier then? This won't be any different…

CLOUD: **No! (he pushes her away violently, knocking her down)** You're not really her!

**("Aeris" lies on the floor for a moment, stunned. She approaches Cloud again.) **

AERIS: **(dropping the act) **That may be, but the pleasures I have to offer are _quite_ real… more than you'll ever get from a pile of bones at the bottom of some lake, I assure you…

**(Cloud recoils at the ugliness of these words.)**

AERIS: **(leaning over him)** Face it, Cloud: I look the same, sound the same **(whispering in his ear as he quivers) **even smell the same. What more could you possibly want? The only truth you'll ever find in this world is in the body. **(Smirking)** After all, everything else is just in your head. Join me in the flesh… come back to your mother…

CLOUD: **(scrunching his eyes shut as tightly as possible)** This isn't real…

AERIS: **(She stands up, irritated) **And since when have you wished for reality? All you can think about is going back -- back before you even knew who you were, when it was all just a fantasy and you were the hero at the center of it! **(She steps inside Hojo's specimen tank)** Isn't this is what you want? **(In a mocking falsetto)** Oh, save me Cloud, save me! I'm so scared! Don't let the big red wolf thing hurt me, oh, Clou…

**(Red XIII tackles Sephiroth/Aeris from behind and starts gnawing on her face. Suddenly, the illusion of the lab vanishes.)**

RED XIII: Cloud, it's me!

CLOUD: No! Stop!

RED XIII: Open your eyes damn it! Sephiroth can't take on two shapes at once and you know it! Just…

**(His words are cut short as he is tackled by his own twin; Sephiroth is now in the shape of Red XIII. The two beasts shuffle around a bit. One of them pins the other to the ground with his paw over the other's throat.)**

RED XIII: **(gasping)** Cloud, help!

CLOUD: **(grabbing his sword) **But… how can I be sure that it's you?

RED XIII: You can't…

**(Cloud has heard these words before, spoken in the exact same manner. He suddenly becomes resolute and lunges at the impostor.)**

CLOUD: Stay out of my dreams!

**(He wounds Sephiroth, who reverts to his usual shape. Struggling, Sephiroth manages to get back up.)**

SEPHIROTH: **(staggering)** It's easier... standing on two feet… anyway!

**(Sephiroth straightens up and kicks Red aside.)**

SEPHIROTH: **(To Cloud)** You can stab me a thousand times! Mother's cells will always be ready to regenerate, and you'll always be there to help them remember how!

RED XIII: That's a lie! **(He motions to Sephiroth's wound, which is healing improperly)** Those unholy cells are inbreeding! With so little material left to work with, they'll keep mutating until you're too unstable to remain solid!

SEPHIROTH: More change is just more power!

**(Sephiroth charges at Cloud only to be impaled on his sword. Mutation gunk wells up and starts slithering around the wound and crawling up the blade. Disgusted, Cloud tears his sword free. Mortally wounded, Sephiroth falls to his knees.)**

RED XIII: It's over! Your body is too weak to support an accelerated healing mechanism!

VINCENT: All that shape-shifting has been putting the cells under additional strain as well. Believe me, I'd know…

SEPHIROTH: You… who are you?!

VINCENT: **(Stepping out from the shadows as he removes his cloak and headband to reveal his entire face)** You wish to know who I am? Look inside my memories, if you dare. See the rape of blushing innocence performed in the name of man and wife. Mark your father as he invents new atrocities to commit against you every day. Watch as he robs you of your natural, loving mother and plants a monster in her place. And as you see in your mind's eye all these crimes unfolded, as you are unable to do anything but bear idle witness to so many unspeakable acts, you will know then what it means to be me…

SEPHIROTH: **(clutching his head) **You don't know what you're talking about! You don't know my mother! Her name was Lucrecia? No! Just an empty vessel, just a womb… no… my real mother… not real…this isn't real! **(Sephiroth's body becomes increasingly unstable)**

RED XIII: **(astonished)** He's falling apart…

CLOUD: Hm… sometimes it's difficult to learn a truth that's different from the one you remember.

SEPHIROTH: **(melting)** Cloud… you must save me… please… I'll be Aeris for you anytime you want! I'll put effort into it this time! See?

**(He tries to shape-shift into Aeris, but fails miserably. Cloud turns away in disgust.)**

SEPHIROTH: Wait! What about Tifa? No, I know… a combination of both! **(with each attempt, his body becomes less and less stable)**

**(No one responds.)**

SEPHIROTH: No, please! Don't let me die, I never even got to meet my real mother! **(He pauses, contemplating) **No, wait, I remember now: I'm Jenova! That's right, I'm my own mother! Of course! I can't die! I already died when Cloud threw me into the bowels of this reactor, into the Lifestream! Yes, that's it! I'll go there again…. live forever!

**(Sephiroth stumbles toward the railing on the bridge above the mako pit.)**

CLOUD: Let me tell you something I've learned, Sephiroth…

**(Sephiroth dives into the pit.)**

CLOUD: you can jump all you like…

**(Cut to Sephiroth falling.)**

CLOUD: But the roof will only be there to break your fall the first time!

**(Cut to Sephiroth's shocked face just before he lands on the hard, concrete floor of the empty tank, exploding into goop.)**

RED XIII: **(looking down at the pit)** Hmm. I guess he forgot to read the "out of commission" sign posted out front.

CLOUD: **(looking at the remains)** How much of that do you think was really Sephiroth? It begged for its life…

VINCENT: This particular form never partook in the Reunion, so it probably never shared any thoughts with the real Sephiroth. Its personality must have been assembled from other people's memories…

**(He pauses to reflect.)**

VINCENT: Then again, who knows what became of his consciousness after death…

**(Cloud watches the remains evaporate.) **

CLOUD: Yeah, right...

**(Tifa rushes inside.)**

TIFA: **(anxious)** Cloud?!

RED XIII: Don't worry, everything's finished up here…

TIFA: **(sighing)** Alright… come on, let's go home. **(Her expression shifts from relief to concern when Cloud doesn't respond)**

**(Cut to Cloud, still shaken.)  
**

* * *

**(A montage begins showing the aftermath of the situation. The evidence collected by Cait Sith/Reeve has shocked the world, as we see in clips of various news reports showing images of the Shinra mansion and some of the footage recorded by Cait Sith, including Rufus' transformation. We see clips of politicians and chairmen affiliated with Shinra, including Palmer, resigning after the scandal. We see clips of more news reports, displaying graphics and text indicating that Shinra's impending bankruptcy and Ibsen's consequential monopoly. We see the Turks giving interviews from the hospital, where they are being treated for their long-term exposure to Jenova cells. We see a newspaper headline reading, "attacks on refineries ordered by Rufus Shinra impersonator," followed by the subtitle, "terrorists brainwashed" it would seem that once more, Barret has escaped criminal charges for his actions due to the upheaval of Midgar's government institutions.)**

* * *

**(Cut to 7****th**** heaven. We see a brief establishing shot of a celebration within. All the heroes are looking happy, save for Tifa who is concerned for Cloud, Cloud himself who is absent and Vincent who is never happy. Outside, Cloud is sitting by himself in repose. Tifa soon joins him.)**

TIFA: The one nice thing you can say about all this pollution is that it sure makes for a spectacular sunset…

CLOUD: The pigments in the air… like gasoline rainbows. Maybe that's what's left of all souls we burned up in the mako age...

**(A moment of silence passes.)**

TIFA: **(she takes a deep breath) **Cloud… Red told me what happened.

CLOUD: Everyone knows what happened.

TIFA: No, not just the basics. **(She pauses**) The things Sephiroth told you… what he showed you… it must have been horrible.

CLOUD: He showed me a lot of things about myself… things I would've preferred not to know…

TIFA: Well, maybe it's better this way. Sometimes when it hurts, that's when the best things happen. **(She pauses**) Yeah, the best things come with a little bit of pain.

CLOUD: Falling from the upper plate…

**(A difficult silence follows.)**

TIFA: You… still have the same feelings for her don't you?

CLOUD: Always.

TIFA: She was very special… but so are you. Don't ever forget that.

CLOUD: Thank you, Tifa.

TIFA: Do you still think you can find her?

CLOUD: I have to look for myself first, and everyone and everything around me. Red is right, we're all one.

TIFA: Well, you could start by looking here. Me, Marlene, even Barret… we love you, Cloud…

CLOUD: I…**(he pauses, smiling)** Mm, same here.

TIFA: **(she looks at him tenderly)**

**(Suddenly Cloud's mind drifts to a far off place -- a field, full of flowers, very similar to a certain meadow near Kalm. The camera takes on Cloud's POV as he looks around, panning a full 360 degrees. No one is there. But the camera slowly continues panning nonetheless, until finally in spite of logic, someone is there. A familiar theme is heard.)**

AERIS: So, you finally made it.

**(Cloud is too awestruck to respond.)**

AERIS: Cloud?

CLOUD: **(on the verge of tears)** I… I thought I'd never see you again… I thought it was over…

AERIS: Oh, poor Cloud, you don't realize, it's never over without a happy ending. This is the way it was meant to end… they don't call it the Promised Land for nothing, you know!

CLOUD: **(looking at his surroundings in awe)** The Promised Land… but how?

AERIS: **(pointing to his chest, where the amulet-necklace from Cosmo Canyon is now suddenly hanging) **It's inside of you: a place within yourself, at the very center, where everything is still and calm.

**(A look of concern comes over Cloud's face.)**

AERIS: What's the matter? You couldn't have found your way here if something was still troubling you…

CLOUD: You're saying this is all in my head… that it's just another dream?

AERIS: What do you mean, "_just_ a dream?" **(Becoming elated)** We're all dreams! Someonehad to think us up, right? That's why everything is so beautiful…

CLOUD: No, what I mean is, what if this is just _my_ dream? How can I know if it's really you?

AERIS: I share your dreams Cloud. All of us do, even the Planet itself. We're all connected here… you see what I'm saying? **(She pauses)** Here, I'll show you! **(She reaches out to touch him).**

CLOUD: … I can feel you… I can feel you feeling me! (**He hugs her so quickly that she's almost startled)**

AERIS: **(laughing)** See? No one can sense someone without being sensed back!

CLOUD: **(taking a step back from her, holding onto her hands)** Then this is the answer… everything really is reciprocal.

AERIS: Yes… but you know, Cloud…

CLOUD: I know… I'll have to go back soon. Inner peace doesn't last too long over there…

AERIS: **(nodding)** But the Promised Land will always be here waiting for you. After all, time doesn't pass here.

CLOUD: Huh?

AERIS: Think about it: all the cycles of the universe, life and death, youth and age -- they have to revolve a fixed center.

CLOUD: This place…

AERIS: Right! So you see, you'll still be able to come back to all this when the time is right for you… no exceptions -- cross my heart, hope to die!

**(She makes a crossing gesture over her chest. Cloud is momentarily taken back by the bittersweetness of it in this context.)**

CLOUD: We'll just have to let this moment last forever then…

AERIS: And when you return, this moment, and endless others, even those you never experienced – it will all be waiting for you… for us and for everyone.

CLOUD: Everyone? Even people like Sephiroth?

AERIS: Especially people like him, silly! They're the ones who need happiness the most!

**(The image of an infant Sephiroth passes by them, accompanied by the loving family he never had. Cloud is struck speechless.)**

AERIS: The Lifestream is always purifying itself to keep the cycle strong. Any soul that returns to the Planet damaged is repaired here so it can be used for new life. That's why we're blessed with innocence from birth…

CLOUD: **(looking at more images of Sephiroth's revised childhood)** And that's why the Planet can always find a place in us to rebuild from… even in him…

**(Aeris nods.)**

CLOUD: But if the Planet is always using us for new life… how can you be here now?

AERIS: One candle can light another without losing its flame, right? It's the same with spirit energy: if I make someone else happy, then that makes me happy! The spirit population just grows and grows with love… like any other population. **(She takes his hand)**

CLOUD: **(blushing)** Oh! Well... yeah, that makes sense…

AERIS: **(giggling) **What's wrong, am I embarrassing you?

CLOUD: N-no not at all!

AERIS: **(leaning close to his face)** Your eyes don't have their mako here, you know…

CLOUD: Aeris, there's something I need to tell you. I… I… **(forgetting what he's saying as he becomes entranced by her nearing face**) …eyes …

**(They kiss softly. Cloud is left stunned and elated.)**

AERIS: **(looking at him once more) **No mako, but they can still glow…

CLOUD: … I love you…

AERIS: I love you too.

**(A silent moment of bittersweet contentment follows, only to be interrupted as Cloud starts to fade away. At first he is alarmed and saddened, but Aeris' caring and faithful expression comforts him. He nods, signaling that he is ready.)**

CLOUD: Hey… **(he takes her hand)**

AERIS: Hm?

CLOUD: **(smirking in spite of his sadness) **I'll be back when it's all over.

**(She places her hand at the center of his chest.) **

AERIS: You never left, remember?

CLOUD: **(placing his hand on her, likewise)** I'll always remember…

**(They look at each other one last time. Cloud lets go literally and metaphorically, releasing her hand and drifting back into the world of the living. The scene returns to Cloud and Tifa, sitting in front of 7****th**** Heaven. The sign above the door is cut off by the camera so the only word we see is "Heaven".) **

TIFA: Cloud?

**(He doesn't answer. She notices that a tear has run down his cheek.)**

TIFA: Cloud, are you all right?

CLOUD: **(he turns to her, smiling)** You're right Tifa… the best things always come with a little pain…

**(She smiles back. Suddenly, Vincent's outside.)**

VINCENT: Sorry, am I interrupting?

CLOUD: **(collecting himself)** No it's fine. Need a break from all the excitement too, huh?

VINCENT: I never understood the appeal of these celebrations… fun and games… small talk…**(he gives an exasperated grunt) **maybe I just lack something…

TIFA: Vincent, are you asking us for social advice?

VINCENT: Don't be ridiculous.

CLOUD: **(he contemplates for a moment) **Let's go in together… I can strike up a conversation relevant to your interests. **(Putting his hand on Vincent's shoulder)** How does that sound?

VINCENT: **(he begins convulsing)** I… I…

**(Cloud and Tifa exchange nervous glances. Suddenly, Vincent bursts into an extended fit of laughter.)**

TIFA: I knew it: it's the apocalypse…

CLOUD: **(Shocked) **Umm… is something funny?

VINCENT: **(Still laughing)** I'm not laughing!

TIFA: Umm, yes, you are….

VINCENT: **(recovering his breath) **I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me… it's just… **(to Cloud) **it's just so strange seeing you cheerful. You're always so… melancholy **(he starts laughing again)**

CLOUD: Melancholy… **(he chuckles at the word)** look who's talking…

TIFA: **(To Cloud) **Well whatever it is, it looks like it's contagious….

**(Cloud briefly glances at the ground and notices a small flower growing from a crack in the pavement.)**

CLOUD: **(smiling)** Yeah, I guess it is.

* * *

**(In a government building somewhere in Midgar.)**

COUNCIL HEAD: The council has decided to extend the drilling rights for all local oil companies indefinitely. In addition, commercial restrictions on the distribution fossil fuels are to begin phasing out during the first quarter of next year.

REEVE: Hang on a second! Where does WRO figure into this?

COUNCIL HEAD: Mr. Tuesti, while we find found your organization's approach to the energy crisis to be… imaginative, the fact is that while solar and wind-based energy may be enough to provide for underdeveloped villages like Cosmo Canyon, a city of Midgar's scope cannot function without a consistently available means of generating power…

REEVE: Consistently available? You think the Planet can keep this up forever?

COUNCIL HEAD: I'm not sure when you suddenly became an expert in ecology, but you should know from your years of experience in Shinra's urban-planning department that Midgar can't sustain itself with the model that you're proposing…

REEVE: I'm not proposing it for Midgar, I'm proposing it for the people!

COUNCIL HEAD: So you're suggesting that we abandon this city? That we just pack up our things tonight and start pitching tents? I think not.

REEVE: It might be tomorrow, it might be centuries from now, but we'll eventually have to leave Midgar behind us or we will perish.

**(Cut to Reeve exiting the building. Outside on the steps waiting for him is the whole gang: Cloud, Cid, Barret, Yuffie, Tifa, Red, and Vincent.) **

REEVE: Thanks for coming out here, everybody.

TIFA: Are you sure this is what you want?

REEVE: **(nodding)** I'm not ashamed to admit that I have heroes for friends…

CLOUD: So then, what's the verdict?

REEVE: Let's get to work… we have a future to decide.

**(The group responds with cheers of enthusiasm**. **The music goes into a crescendo as the camera zooms out to reveal all of Midgar. Fade to black. **

* * *

**(A caption appears, reading "498 years later**."** We see the overgrown city and are left to wonder whether mankind has abandoned Midgar or perished, as Reeve described. Red and his cubs ascend the cliff overlooking Midgar. The sun is beginning to set. A sweeping shot encircles Red on the cliff. With his wise, almost sad-looking face he gazes up at the stars. The camera follows, drifting in the stars aimlessly before fading to green bubbles. Aeris appears in a shot identical to the last shot of the game, music and all. This time, however, she is followed by Cloud, who appears at her side. The circle is complete. All is well.)**

**The End.**


End file.
